Legato Capital Management LLC Sells 1,102 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Legato Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 23.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,609 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,102 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Linde by 108.7% during the 3rd 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 raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake 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 period. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Linde by 0.5% during the third quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,737 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,213,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC grew its position in Linde by 5.2% during the third quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC now owns 528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $458.56 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $218.35 billion, a PE ratio of 33.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $410.69 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $434.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $453.86.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,503 shares of company stock worth $4,306,843. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on LIN shares. TD Cowen upgraded 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 research report on Monday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four research 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, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

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.