AE Wealth Management LLC Buys 2,686 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Linde PLC by 30.5%, acquiring an additional 2,686 shares, bringing its total to 11,485 shares worth approximately $5.3 million.
• Linde recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $3.95, slightly exceeding analyst expectations, with revenues reaching $8.11 billion during the quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, which translates to an annual yield of 1.27% and a payout ratio of 43.57%.

AE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 30.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,485 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,686 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $5,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 34.9% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Linde stock traded up $1.40 on Friday, hitting $472.89. 1,212,138 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,547,221. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $466.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $456.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $222.60 billion, a PE ratio of 34.34, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.96.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released 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. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.75 EPS. Linde's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is 43.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup raised Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $518.80.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president owned 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.