Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV Raises Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV grew its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises approximately 0.6% of Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $442.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.75 billion, a PE ratio of 33.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $396.07 and a 52 week 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $436.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $453.18.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.63 earnings per share. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LIN. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. 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 research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’s 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.