Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC Raises Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC boosted its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 15.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,865 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $354,000. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Linde by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,466 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,870,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $470.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $221.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $454.21 and its 200 day moving average is $449.06. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $487.49. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde 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 owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus 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.