Hartford Investment Management Co. Reduces Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,252 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 545 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Linde were worth $14,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 13.6% during the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,121,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,689,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Linde by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 39.8% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $882,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 4.1% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 49,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,205,000 after acquiring an additional 1,968 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This represents a 0.00 % 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. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:LIN traded down $2.38 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $479.57. The company had a trading volume of 92,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,818,551. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $362.33 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $228.99 billion, a PE ratio of 36.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $471.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $450.80.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.57 earnings per share. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $477.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $484.18.

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.