Prentice Wealth Management LLC Increases Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Prentice Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 80 shares during the quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in Linde by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,086,000 after acquiring an additional 408,659 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in Linde by 0.3% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,199 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,632,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 47,830.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 936,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $446,377,000 after purchasing an additional 934,123 shares during the period. Finally, Romano Brothers AND Company raised its position in Linde by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 1,984 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $458.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $218.08 billion, a PE ratio of 33.65, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $410.69 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $436.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $454.33.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 Linde 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,285 shares of company stock worth $7,423,986 over the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. Mizuho increased their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.