Veracity Capital LLC Acquires 33 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Veracity Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,543 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northside Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Northside Capital Management LLC now owns 807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 1st quarter worth about $267,000. First Financial Corp IN grew its holdings in Linde by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,104,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 1st quarter worth about $401,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Linde by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $831,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm’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 trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. This 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 Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $471.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.67, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $451.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $448.03. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Linde’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.75 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LIN. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.11.

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.