Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Bought by Farther Finance Advisors LLC

Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 37.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,833 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $1,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LIN. Wrapmanager Inc. raised its position in Linde by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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. Austin Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target for the company. Three equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.40.

Linde Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of LIN traded down $4.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $465.98. 1,414,599 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,970,686. The stock's 50-day moving average is $455.26 and its 200-day moving average is $449.06. The company has a market cap of $219.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.75 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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.