GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 1,488 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 25.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,336 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,488 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $3,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Knuff & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,116 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,305,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Snowden Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,448 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,700,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $0.67 during trading on Friday, hitting $463.79. 2,634,344 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,972,547. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $458.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $449.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $218.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde 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 owns 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded 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 assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $510.40.

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.