Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Trims Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS reduced its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 48,032 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,557 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Linde were worth $20,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Concord Asset Management LLC VA boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in Linde by 14.3% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Fourpath Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,732,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $960,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Romano Brothers AND Company increased its stake in shares of Linde by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 2,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $841,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock opened at $457.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $217.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.89. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $434.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $454.01.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,503 shares of company stock worth $4,306,843 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.