Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Trims Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lessened its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,066 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 302 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Trading Up 0.8 %

Linde stock opened at $436.00 on Tuesday. Linde plc has a one year low of $396.07 and a one year high of $487.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $436.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $453.14. The company has a market capitalization of $207.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.94. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on LIN. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.75.

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.