Inspire Trust Co. N.A. Purchases 2,430 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 40.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,430 shares during the quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Argus upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.11.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of LIN opened at $455.50 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $451.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $447.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Linde plc has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $214.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.75 EPS. Linde’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.57%.

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.