Calamos Advisors LLC Purchases 2,432 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Calamos Advisors LLC grew its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 235,252 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,432 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $109,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Linde during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% in 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of LIN stock traded down $1.34 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $475.83. The company had a trading volume of 952,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,968,152. The company has a 50 day moving average of $460.99 and a 200 day moving average of $450.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $223.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.96. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The firm's revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.75 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was 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 owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. Citigroup upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $515.90.

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.