Venturi Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 112 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in shares of Linde by 144.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Linde in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Linde by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,503 shares of company stock worth $4,306,843. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on LIN. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Linde Trading Down 0.9 %

Linde stock opened at $457.00 on Tuesday. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $410.69 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $434.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $454.01.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.55 earnings per share for the current 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.