Raymond James & Associates Buys 12,102 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 579,976 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,102 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.12% of Linde worth $269,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning purchased a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $1,600,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co purchased a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $1,480,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $2,045,000. Finally, Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd grew its position in shares of Linde by 156.3% during the 4th quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd now owns 10,121 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,146,000 after acquiring an additional 6,172 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LIN. Citigroup downgraded shares of Linde from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Linde from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $429.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Linde from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $456.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total value of $23,353,139.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,271,882.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total value of $23,353,139.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,271,882.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 in the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN traded down $0.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $443.18. 1,583,773 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,507,545. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $456.06 and a 200-day moving average of $421.34. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $350.60 and a 52 week high of $477.71. The stock has a market cap of $213.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.17, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.04 billion. Linde had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The business's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.16 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.13%.

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.

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