New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 28,232 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 396,554 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 28,232 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Linde were worth $166,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in Linde by 108.7% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its position in Linde by 1.7% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Linde by 16.8% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 60,292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,751,000 after buying an additional 8,659 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 13.1% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,225,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lifted its position in shares of Linde by 20.5% in the third quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 4,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,322,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,503 shares of company stock worth $4,306,843 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock opened at $461.05 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $434.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $453.89. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $219.53 billion, a PE ratio of 33.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup cut their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde 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.