Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 46.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,847 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,394 shares during the quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $1,611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co boosted its stake in Linde by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 995 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 13,801 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,778,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the period. Schear Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,165 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,744,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Linde by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,466 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,870,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC raised its position in Linde by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 7,749 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,547 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm'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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,503 shares of company stock worth $4,306,843 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on LIN. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN traded down $4.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $457.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,705,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,276,889. 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 0.81. The firm's 50 day moving average is $434.82 and its 200 day moving average is $454.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.58, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.