Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 2,068 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,554 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,068 shares during the period. Linde makes up about 0.4% of Yousif Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Yousif Capital Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $37,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Linde by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,616 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,351,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,164 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,255,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $5.56 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $470.00. 802,488 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,961,711. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $452.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $448.82. The firm has a market cap of $221.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.55, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.75 EPS. Linde's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Linde's payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde 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 sale, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company'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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company's stock, 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. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. 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, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $503.11.

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.