Annex Advisory Services LLC Boosts Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 16.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 68,286 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,526 shares during the period. Linde comprises approximately 0.9% of Annex Advisory Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Annex Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $28,589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its position in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. boosted its stake in Linde by 1,733.3% during the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $436.00 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $436.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $452.97. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $396.07 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $207.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 2.42 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 (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. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lowered their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised 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 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.75.

About Linde

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.