Aspiriant LLC Acquires 121 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Aspiriant LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 23.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the quarter. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 144.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective 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. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. 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. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.75.

Linde Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of LIN opened at $442.46 on Wednesday. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $436.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $453.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.60, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.