Curat Global LLC Makes New Investment in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 565 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 7,351 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,078,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,921 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,223,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Linde stock traded up $2.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $472.71. 1,352,718 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,963,781. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $452.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $448.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.75 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on LIN. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $503.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents 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 insiders.

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.