BLB&B Advisors LLC Buys 1,962 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

BLB&B Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 11.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,602 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,962 shares during the quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $9,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 14.1% in 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 during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 68,460 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $28,662,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $692,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maia Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 496 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Linde stock traded down $1.34 on Friday, hitting $475.83. 952,724 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,968,152. 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 50-day moving average price of $461.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $451.02. The company has a market cap of $223.98 billion, a PE ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on LIN. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup raised Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $515.90.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, 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 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.