Alpine Bank Wealth Management Invests $273,000 in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 586 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position 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 worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in shares of Linde by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 68,460 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $28,662,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,099 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,209 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN traded down $2.96 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $460.20. 1,608,890 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,965,745. The firm's 50-day moving average is $458.21 and its 200-day moving average is $449.28. The stock has a market cap of $216.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. The business's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.75 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on LIN. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded 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, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.40.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company'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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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.