First Affirmative Financial Network Grows Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

First Affirmative Financial Network lifted its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,615 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 16.9% in the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $652,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Linde by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $873,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its position in Linde by 2.9% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 851 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $438.32 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $435.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $453.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $396.07 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.71 billion, a PE ratio of 33.28, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective 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 lifted their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares in the company, 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. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.