Manitou Investment Management Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Manitou Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 91.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Manitou Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Linde were worth $73,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,351,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,164 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $472.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $222.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $452.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $448.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.75 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde stock in a transaction 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 owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde 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.