Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 52.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,538 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,683 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Linde by 372.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,567,958,000 after buying an additional 2,592,682 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 47,830.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,076 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $446,377,000 after acquiring an additional 934,123 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 2,293.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $327,593,000 after acquiring an additional 749,763 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in Linde by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Linde by 131.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $296,342,000 after purchasing an additional 353,136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,503 shares of company stock valued at $4,306,843. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on LIN. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lowered their price target 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. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $501.82.

Linde Trading Down 0.8 %

LIN stock traded down $3.76 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $462.07. The stock had a trading volume of 1,883,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,288,375. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $410.69 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $220.02 billion, a PE ratio of 33.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.94. The company's 50-day moving average price is $435.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $454.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.