Courier Capital LLC Lowers Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Courier Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,285 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,228 shares during the quarter. Courier Capital LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $7,583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in 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 purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business'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 transaction, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. The trade was 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $503.11.

Linde Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $472.71 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $452.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $448.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.73, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.75 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

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.

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