Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Purchased by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 61,427 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,838 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $28,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in 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 purchased a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ LIN opened at $455.86 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $457.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $449.17. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $214.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.97.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.