Decker Retirement Planning Inc. Acquires Shares of 112 Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 1.7% during the third quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $652,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the third quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 1.3% in the third quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $873,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 851 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $432.49 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $437.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $452.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.84, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $396.07 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.63 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction 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 represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. 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 report on Monday. Citigroup cut their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.