1,555 Shares in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Bought by Sfm LLC

SFM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,555 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $724,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Prentice Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 3.5% in the first quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,497 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Aries Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 18.4% in the first quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 2,389 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,112,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Linde by 13.8% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 5,279 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,458,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co boosted its position in Linde by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 1,117 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 26.8% in the 1st quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 662 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.40.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN traded down $4.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $465.98. 1,414,599 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,970,686. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company's fifty day moving average price is $455.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $449.06. 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 announced its 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. The business 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.75 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.57%.

About Linde

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.