May Hill Capital LLC Buys Shares of 617 Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

May Hill Capital LLC bought a new position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 617 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded down $2.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $467.22. 2,443,828 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,884,332. The company has a market cap of $220.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $410.69 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $458.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $454.32.

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Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.09%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 over the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on LIN. Citigroup cut their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $501.82.

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.