Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Sold by Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. decreased its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,384 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,434 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $16,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Linde stock opened at $458.70 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $457.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $449.19. The company has a market cap of $215.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.75 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on LIN. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.40.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.