Monte Financial Group LLC Purchases 43 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Monte Financial Group LLC raised its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Linde by 1,160.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Argus raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.40.

Linde Stock Down 0.6%

LIN opened at $455.86 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $457.70 and a 200-day moving average of $449.17. The company has a market capitalization of $214.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.97. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.75 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.