Geneva Partners LLC Takes Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Geneva Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,467,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 17,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,186,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $440,000. Country Club Bank lifted its position in Linde by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Country Club Bank now owns 4,640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,938,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Linde by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 134,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,642,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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 note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Linde Trading Down 0.2 %

Linde stock opened at $453.70 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $434.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $453.44. The company has a market capitalization of $216.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 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 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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.