GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 340 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,848 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 236.5% during the second quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,750 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $768,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 0.7% in the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,028,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 5.4% in the second quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 873 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Linde by 3.1% in the second quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $976,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, FineMark National Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.6% during the second quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 15,742 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,908,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LIN. Mizuho increased their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.75.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $414.17 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $446.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $454.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.63 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

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.