Empire Life Investments Inc. Purchases New Shares in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Empire Life Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,501 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,722,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its stake in Linde by 144.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,503 shares of company stock worth $4,306,843 in the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Linde stock traded down $3.76 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $462.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,883,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,288,375. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $410.69 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The firm's 50-day moving average is $435.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $454.18. The company has a market cap of $220.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.95, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. Erste Group Bank restated a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.