Values First Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Values First Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 209.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,541 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 69,527 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,915 shares during the period. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich raised its stake in Linde by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 2,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $909,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 262.7% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 3,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,353,000 after acquiring an additional 2,341 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co raised its position in shares of Linde by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN stock opened at $460.74 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $410.69 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $219.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $434.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $453.86.

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 net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.55 earnings per share for the current year.

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.