Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Purchased by HB Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Linde PLC by 47.4%, acquiring an additional 5,950 shares during the first quarter, bringing their total to 18,512 shares valued at approximately $8.62 million.
• Several other institutional investors also adjusted their stakes in Linde, contributing to a total of 82.80% of the company's stock being owned by institutional investors.
• Linde's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $3.95, slightly exceeding estimates, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, reflecting a 1.27% yield.

HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 47.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,512 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 5,950 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $8,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Linde in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $469.69. The stock had a trading volume of 324,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,119,885. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $466.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $457.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $221.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.96. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49.

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, 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 firm had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.75 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on LIN. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upgraded shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $518.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the sale, the vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.