Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Reduces Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,311 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 403 shares during the period. Linde makes up 1.3% of Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Indie Asset Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Indie Asset Partners LLC now owns 598 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 804.2% during the 4th quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 18,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,621,000 after acquiring an additional 16,189 shares in the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its stake in Linde by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 33,880 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,185,000 after buying an additional 7,928 shares in the last quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,661,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 80.1% in the 4th quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 3,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,633,000 after buying an additional 1,735 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,285 shares of company stock valued at $7,423,986. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $458.00 on Friday. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $410.69 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a market capitalization of $218.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50-day moving average is $436.88 and its 200-day moving average is $454.33.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Equities research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LIN. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

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.