Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Holdings Increased by McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc.

McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,412 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 653 shares during the quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $8,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,901,853,000. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,128,233,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Linde by 58,312.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,415,935 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,590,596,000 after purchasing an additional 3,410,087 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Linde by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,834,631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957,604 shares during the period. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $468,360,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $510.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were 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 now directly owns 22,639 shares of the company's stock, 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.

Linde Stock Down 1.0%

LIN traded down $4.55 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $465.98. 1,414,599 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,970,686. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $455.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $449.06. The company has a market cap of $219.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week 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.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.75 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

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.