Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stake Raised by Wedmont Private Capital

Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 14.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,408 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital's holdings in Linde were worth $1,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 8,093 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,768,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.4% in the first quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,314 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,665,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 24.9% during the first quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,845 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,516,000 after acquiring an additional 2,362 shares during the period. Finally, Impact Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 4.3% during the first quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,209 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,426,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $1.99 on Thursday, reaching $470.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,571,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,969,102. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $453.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $448.95. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $221.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.75 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 8,151 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.