Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC Invests $848,000 in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,025 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $848,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in Linde by 108.7% in the third 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 last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 6.7% in the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its holdings in Linde by 5.3% in the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 2,566 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,224,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde by 8.9% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 737 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $461.90. The stock had a trading volume of 1,334,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,259,478. The firm's 50 day moving average is $436.43 and its 200 day moving average is $454.23. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $410.69 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.94, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen raised Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased 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. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho boosted 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $501.82.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,503 shares of company stock valued at $4,306,843. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.