Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Position Increased by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 58,312.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,415,935 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 3,410,087 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned 0.72% of Linde worth $1,590,596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in 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 acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 34.9% in the fourth 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. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LIN. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $503.11.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,725 shares of company stock valued at $5,385,750. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.1%

LIN traded up $0.32 on Friday, reaching $464.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,344,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,962,702. The stock has a market cap of $218.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.12, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business's 50 day moving average is $451.78 and its 200 day moving average is $447.80.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Linde's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Linde Company 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.