Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Pittenger & Anderson Inc.

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 67 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $9,862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Americana Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 19,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,980,000 after buying an additional 3,024 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth $48,000. WBH Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth $733,000. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,040,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,729,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,503 shares of company stock valued at $4,306,843 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered 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. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $457.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.89. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $434.82 and its 200-day simple 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) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.55 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.