Stewardship Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 436 Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Stewardship Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business’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 value of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $465.98 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $219.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. 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’s 50-day moving average is $455.26 and its 200-day moving average is $449.01. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.75 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Argus upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.40.

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.