Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,768,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LIN. Wrapmanager Inc. grew its holdings in Linde by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Linde by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 479 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its stake in Linde by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $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 Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of LIN opened at $472.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $222.52 billion, a PE ratio of 34.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s fifty day moving average is $452.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $448.54. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results 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. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.75 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on LIN. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.11.

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.