B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 1,101 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,336 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,101 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 133.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.7 %

Linde stock opened at $435.30 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $461.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $455.42. The company has a market capitalization of $207.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $396.07 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $490.75.

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.