Spire Wealth Management Takes $7.88 Million Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 18,816 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $7,878,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 144.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 Linde stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This trade 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup cut their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Linde Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $446.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $212.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's 50-day moving average is $434.54 and its 200-day moving average is $453.23. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $396.07 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The firm's revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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