436 Shares in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Purchased by Exchange Bank

Exchange Bank acquired a new position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wrapmanager Inc. grew its holdings in Linde by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock opened at $468.54 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $453.31 and a 200-day moving average of $448.95. The firm has a market cap of $220.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.75 earnings per share. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Argus raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.11.

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.