Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators Trims Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators decreased its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 601 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 29 shares during the quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Linde were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Concord Asset Management LLC VA grew its holdings in Linde by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 14.3% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Fourpath Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 2,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $841,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $458.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $218.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.65, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $410.69 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company’s 50 day moving average is $436.88 and its 200 day moving average is $454.33.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on LIN. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,285 shares of company stock worth $7,423,986. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Linde

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.