Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 852 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 852 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in Linde by 144.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Linde by 1,733.3% during the 3rd quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 618.8% during the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $427.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $396.07 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $438.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $453.08.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 value of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho boosted their price objective 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.75.

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.