Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Acquires 658 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,304 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $9,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised 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 period. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 34.9% in 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. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $460.20 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $458.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $449.35. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 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 (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.30%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 price target for the company. Finally, Argus raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde 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.