VanderPol Investments L.L.C. Grows Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

VanderPol Investments L.L.C. raised its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. VanderPol Investments L.L.C.’s holdings in Linde were worth $235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on LIN. Citigroup lowered their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $1.12 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $436.63. 251,511 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,196,183. 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 52-week low of $396.07 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $435.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $453.33. The company has a market cap of $207.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.18, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.45 EPS for the current year.

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.