Sowell Financial Services LLC Invests $806,000 in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,731 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $806,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position 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 valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $458.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $215.92 billion, a PE ratio of 33.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $456.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $449.20. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. Linde’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.57%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares of the company’s stock, 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 currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.