Weaver Capital Management LLC Invests $396,000 in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Weaver Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 851 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $396,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on LIN. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.40.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $455.86 on Friday. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $457.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $449.17. The firm 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 PLC has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.75 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.

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