Segment Wealth Management LLC Acquires 575 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Segment Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,004 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $14,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Linde by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,834,631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957,604 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,598,551,000 after acquiring an additional 30,750 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Linde by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,857,741,000 after acquiring an additional 554,480 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $2,901,853,000. Finally, Freemont Capital Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $2,128,233,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:LIN traded down $2.84 on Friday, reaching $455.86. 4,363,832 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,976,795. The company has a market capitalization of $214.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $457.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $449.17.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.40.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% 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.