Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) is GAM Holding AG's 8th Largest Position

GAM Holding AG reduced its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 44.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,219 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 52,925 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up 2.4% of GAM Holding AG's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. GAM Holding AG's holdings in Linde were worth $31,300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Wrapmanager Inc. boosted its position in shares of Linde by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,116 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,305,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $455.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $214.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.97. 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. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $457.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $449.17.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $510.40.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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.

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