Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,208 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Signet Financial Management LLC raised its position in Linde by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 1,891 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $881,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 1st quarter worth $1,628,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Linde by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 36,407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,953,000 after buying an additional 1,090 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Linde by 37.5% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,790,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. raised its position in Linde by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 10,811 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,034,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on LIN. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.11.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN 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. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $454.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $449.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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 firm’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.75 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Linde Company 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.