Boit C F David Purchases Shares of 800 Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Boit C F David bought a new position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 800 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $373,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 1,160.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $503.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN traded up $4.97 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $475.29. The company had a trading volume of 678,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,960,510. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $451.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $448.03. The company has a market capitalization of $223.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.75 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

About Linde

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.