Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. Raises Stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4,421.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 21,973 shares during the quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $10,463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Linde by 1,160.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $473.77 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $223.01 billion, a PE ratio of 34.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. Linde plc has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $452.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $448.21.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.75 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is presently 43.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.