Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC Acquires 1,789 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 24.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,162 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 1,789 shares during the period. Linde accounts for about 1.5% of Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $4,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the company'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 transaction, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were 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 approximately $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on LIN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three investment 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 stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.40.

Linde Stock Up 0.1%

LIN stock traded up $0.62 during trading on Monday, reaching $466.60. The stock had a trading volume of 1,584,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,969,146. Linde plc has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The company's 50 day moving average is $455.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $449.01. The company has a market capitalization of $219.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Linde 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.