iSAM Funds UK Ltd Acquires Shares of 1,690 Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,690 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $708,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its position in Linde by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $892,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Linde by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $598,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Linde by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 68,286 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $28,589,000 after acquiring an additional 9,526 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. boosted its position in Linde by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 10,227 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,282,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Terra Nova Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Linde by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $639,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded down $0.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $458.90. 1,627,024 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,948,584. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. The business's fifty day moving average is $451.27 and its 200 day moving average is $447.63.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.75 EPS. The firm's revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. 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 1.31%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $503.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.