Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 51.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,757 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 599 shares during the quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 34.9% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $908,138.48. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Price Performance

LIN opened at $458.70 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $456.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $449.20. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $215.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.31, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.97.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. 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 firm earned $3.75 EPS. Linde's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Linde's payout ratio is 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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