Xponance Inc. Buys 1,219 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,004 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,219 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $33,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in Linde by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Trading Down 0.3%

LIN stock traded down $1.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $468.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,326,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,975,504. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $463.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $452.65. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $220.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.96. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.75 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the sale, the vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $518.80.

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.