Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Bought by First Affirmative Financial Network

First Affirmative Financial Network grew its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,615 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Channel Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 7,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,092,000 after buying an additional 1,723 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $898,188,000 after purchasing an additional 46,843 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 6.7% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,021 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in Linde by 16.8% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,580,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Linde by 4.4% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,215,000 after buying an additional 2,312 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on 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. 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. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four 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, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.82.

Linde Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $438.32 on Thursday. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The business’s 50-day moving average is $435.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $453.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.71 billion, a PE ratio of 33.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94.

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, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.63 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.