Affinity Wealth Management LLC Raises Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Affinity Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for about 0.8% of Affinity Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Affinity Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in Linde by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 1,733.3% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $439.25 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $209.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $396.07 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company’s fifty day moving average is $435.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $453.05.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its 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. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four 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, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

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.