Heartland Bank & Trust Co Grows Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Heartland Bank & Trust Co lifted its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 801 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 68 shares during the quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Linde were worth $335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 372.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,567,958,000 after purchasing an additional 2,592,682 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Linde by 47,830.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $446,377,000 after buying an additional 934,123 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 2,293.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $327,593,000 after acquiring an additional 749,763 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 108.7% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,086,000 after acquiring an additional 408,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Linde by 131.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $296,342,000 after acquiring an additional 353,136 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. 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. Citigroup decreased 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 reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen raised 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $439.25 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $209.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $435.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $453.33. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $396.07 and a twelve month high of $487.49.

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

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.