Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3,249.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,471 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,039 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $6,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Concord Asset Management LLC VA increased 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 purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in Linde by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Fourpath Capital Management LLC increased its position in Linde by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company increased its position in Linde by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 2,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Linde by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,285 shares of company stock valued at $7,423,986. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock opened at $458.00 on Friday. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $436.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $454.39. The firm has a market cap of $218.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.65, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.