Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Purchases 5,686 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 568,488 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 5,686 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned 0.12% of Linde worth $264,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Linde by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 211,395 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $88,505,000 after buying an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. boosted its position in Linde by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 168,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $70,337,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 332 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Linde by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 138,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $57,986,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 300.3% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 26,150 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,948,000 after purchasing an additional 19,618 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price for the company. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $510.40.

Linde Trading Down 0.1%

LIN stock traded down $0.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $463.79. The company had a trading volume of 2,634,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,974,551. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $458.70 and a 200 day moving average of $449.50. The company has a market cap of $218.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 3.28 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 (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.