Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Acquires 1,194 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 77.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,732 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,194 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $1,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Knuff & Co LLC increased its position in Linde by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Linde by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its position in Linde by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,116 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,305,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockingstone Advisors LLC increased its position in Linde by 0.3% in the first quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,883,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares of the company's stock, 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. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock traded down $0.67 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $463.79. 2,634,344 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,972,547. The stock's fifty day moving average is $458.94 and its 200-day moving average is $449.70. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $218.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.97. 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 (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 analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.75 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price for the company. Finally, Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $510.40.

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.