Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Sells 109 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC decreased its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,957 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 109 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in Linde by 1,160.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.3%

LIN stock opened at $475.83 on Monday. 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 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $223.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $461.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $451.45.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s quarterly 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. Research 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 was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owned 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $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 corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on LIN. Citigroup upgraded Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 price objective on the stock. Argus upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.90.

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.