Aspire Private Capital LLC Acquires New Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Aspire Private Capital LLC bought a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $479,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 2.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,919,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,182,870,000 after purchasing an additional 354,506 shares in the last quarter. Winder Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $1,892,774,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Linde by 2.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,081,177 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,891,976,000 after purchasing an additional 123,174 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Linde by 2.6% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,960,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,102,475,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,766,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,030,146,000 after purchasing an additional 9,541 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded up $0.67 during trading on Monday, reaching $446.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,345,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,239,672. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $453.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $418.89. Linde plc has a one year low of $350.60 and a one year high of $477.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $215.25 billion, a PE ratio of 35.51, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Linde had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $1.39 dividend. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.13%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Citigroup lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $456.79.

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.