Manitou Investment Management Ltd. Increases Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Manitou Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 91.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Manitou Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Linde were worth $73,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake 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 period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 7.4% in 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 period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on LIN. Argus raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business’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 transaction, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $472.17 on Tuesday. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $452.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $448.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.75 earnings per share. The firm’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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.57%.

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.