Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Position Increased by Markel Group Inc.

Markel Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 181,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 13,000 shares during the quarter. Markel Group Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $84,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. North Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in Linde by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in Linde during the first quarter valued at about $41,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $461.29 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $217.14 billion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average of $464.40 and a 200-day moving average of $453.75.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict 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 was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two investment 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $518.80.

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.

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