Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,210,052 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 43,123 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of Linde worth $574,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the second quarter valued at $3,098,772,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Linde by 82.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,683,248 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $799,543,000 after buying an additional 760,954 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in Linde by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,972,515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,394,198,000 after buying an additional 463,977 shares during the last quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new stake in Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at about $187,359,000. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 48.7% during the 2nd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,131,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $530,617,000 after acquiring an additional 370,261 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $456.97 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $486.38. The company has a market cap of $213.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $425.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $447.82.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 21.17%.The company had revenue of $8.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets set a $501.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $516.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $501.75.

Linde Company Profile

Linde (NASDAQ: LIN) is a multinational industrial gases and engineering company that supplies gases, related technologies and services to a wide range of industries. The company traces its current form to the 2018 combination of Germany’s Linde AG and U.S.-based Praxair, creating one of the largest global providers of industrial, specialty and medical gases. Linde’s business model centers on production, processing and distribution of gases as well as the design and construction of the plants and equipment needed to produce them.

Core products and services include atmospheric and process gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon; hydrogen and helium; carbon dioxide; and a portfolio of higher‑value specialty and electronic gases.