Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by Ramirez Asset Management Inc.

Ramirez Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,669 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 646 shares during the quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $3,630,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $252,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $507,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 2,191.7% during the 3rd quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 275 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.0% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 17,942 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,556,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of LIN traded up $0.83 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $466.47. 460,608 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,872,523. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $410.69 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $456.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $454.13. 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 company has a market cap of $220.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde's payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.