Howard Bailey Securities LLC Takes $257,000 Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Howard Bailey Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 551 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th 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. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Linde 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $466.60. 1,584,392 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,969,139. The company has a market capitalization of $219.64 billion, a PE ratio of 34.28, 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $455.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $449.01. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.75 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued 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 is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.