Aspire Private Capital LLC Buys 114 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Aspire Private Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in shares of Linde by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 68,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,662,000 after purchasing an additional 1,876 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,791 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,705,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $455.86 on Friday. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $457.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $449.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.75 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 43.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.