Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,428 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 824 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Linde were worth $12,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 16.9% in the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Linde by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $873,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA raised its position in Linde by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,999,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Fourpath Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $460.74 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $434.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $453.79. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $410.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $219.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.85, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Linde plc will post 16.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on LIN. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

About Linde

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.