Financial Enhancement Group LLC Sells 1,079 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Financial Enhancement Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,530 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,079 shares during the period. Linde makes up 1.8% of Financial Enhancement Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Financial Enhancement Group LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $11,606,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wrapmanager Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 during the period. 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 valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,116 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $4.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $464.46. 1,919,773 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,967,577. The company has a market cap of $218.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.73, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $458.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $449.35. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.94.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were 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 was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm'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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on LIN. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $510.40.

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.