R Squared Ltd Purchases New Shares in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 5,681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,378,000. Linde comprises about 2.3% of R Squared Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Linde Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of LIN stock opened at $435.51 on Wednesday. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $396.07 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $207.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.07, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $435.27 and its 200-day moving average is $453.36.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.45 EPS for the current year.

Linde Company Profile

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South Pacific. It offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene.