Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. lessened its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,025 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 51 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,086,000 after buying an additional 408,659 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Linde by 7.7% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,042 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,881,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,961,000 after buying an additional 639 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 1,555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $742,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock opened at $455.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $216.68 billion, a PE ratio of 33.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $434.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $453.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. As a group, research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup dropped their price target 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. Mizuho lifted their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.