Hanson & Doremus Investment Management Buys 25 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 34.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s holdings in Linde were worth $41,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in shares of Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Linde during the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’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 value of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $446.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $396.07 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $212.55 billion, a PE ratio of 33.89, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $434.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $453.22.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.63 EPS. Analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on LIN. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

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.