Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Shares Acquired by Rice Partnership LLC

Rice Partnership LLC raised its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,686 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. Linde comprises 1.7% of Rice Partnership LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Rice Partnership LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $8,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 211,395 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $88,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 168,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $70,337,000 after acquiring an additional 13,000 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 7,788 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,261,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 300.3% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 26,150 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $10,948,000 after acquiring an additional 19,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,235 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,287,000 after acquiring an additional 4,162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded down $1.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $475.83. The company had a trading volume of 952,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,970,035. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $461.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $451.22. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $223.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.75 EPS. The company's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.90.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. This trade represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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.