Ascent Group LLC Boosts Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,788 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,042 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $4,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in Linde by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,158 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $501,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Red Door Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Linde by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 864 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth $2,752,000. Finally, CX Institutional increased its holdings in Linde by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,703 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $1.57 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $464.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,305,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,955,503. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $218.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business's 50 day moving average price is $451.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $447.74.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The company's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.75 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Linde's payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on LIN. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $503.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm's 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 now owns 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,725 shares of company stock valued at $5,385,750 over the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by 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.