Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 13.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,279 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 641 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Linde were worth $2,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Linde by 1,160.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 34.9% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.
Linde Trading Up 0.1%
Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $0.62 on Monday, reaching $466.60. 1,584,392 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,969,139. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $455.26 and a 200 day moving average of $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. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.64 billion, a PE ratio of 34.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97.
Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Linde's revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.75 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Linde Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.57%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research firms have weighed in on LIN. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Argus raised 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.40.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Linde
Insider Transactions 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 stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.
About Linde
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Free Report)
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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