GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Increases Position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. grew its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 91,809 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up 1.0% of GF Fund Management CO. LTD.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. GF Fund Management CO. LTD.'s holdings in Linde were worth $42,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 211,395 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $88,505,000 after buying an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 168,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $70,337,000 after acquiring an additional 13,000 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 7,788 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,261,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 300.3% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 26,150 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,948,000 after acquiring an additional 19,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in shares of Linde by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,235 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,287,000 after purchasing an additional 4,162 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Linde Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Linde stock opened at $475.83 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $460.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $450.71. The stock has a market cap of $223.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.80. 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.75 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders 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 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.57%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

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 value of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 owned 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade 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 company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LIN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.