Exchange Bank Makes New Investment in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Exchange Bank bought a new position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 34.9% in the 4th 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. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Down 1.5%

LIN opened at $468.54 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $453.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $448.95. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $220.55 billion, a PE ratio of 34.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The business’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.75 EPS. Analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 8.07% 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 corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.11.

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.