1,118,686 Shares in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Purchased by Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC

Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,118,686 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $468,360,000. Linde accounts for approximately 3.1% of Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC owned about 0.23% of Linde as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $498.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $454.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $453.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $449.21. The stock has a market cap of $215.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. Linde plc has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.75 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is 44.09%.

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.

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