Rafferty Asset Management LLC Acquires 9,639 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 71,615 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 9,639 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $29,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Linde by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,206 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $436,000. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Linde by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Burney Co. acquired a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $289,000. Finally, Rockingstone Advisors LLC increased its stake in Linde by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 8,315 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,481,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $2.56 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $460.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,618,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,943,733. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $451.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $447.54. 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 firm has a market cap of $216.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The firm 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 firm posted $3.75 EPS. Linde's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given 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 1.30%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $503.11.

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.