Sowell Financial Services LLC Purchases New Position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,731 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $806,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.6%

LIN stock traded down $2.84 during trading on Friday, reaching $455.86. The stock had a trading volume of 4,363,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,976,795. Linde PLC has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company's 50 day moving average is $457.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $449.19. The company has a market capitalization of $214.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.97.

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, 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 business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.75 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $510.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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.