AlphaStar Capital Management LLC Acquires 580 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

AlphaStar Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,805 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the period. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Entropy Technologies LP increased its position in Linde by 128.8% in the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 16,699 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,991,000 after acquiring an additional 9,399 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,164 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in Linde by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 10,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,209,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Linde by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,351,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,941,000 after buying an additional 1,447 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $455.05 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $434.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $453.55. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $410.69 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.68 billion, a PE ratio of 33.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LIN. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

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.