Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP Invests $26.66 Million in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 63,666 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $26,655,000. Linde comprises about 0.6% of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 85.2% in the fourth quarter. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Channel Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 7,385 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Linde by 6.7% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,021 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Linde by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $898,188,000 after buying an additional 46,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $625,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $454.07 on Wednesday. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $410.69 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $446.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $455.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $214.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.36, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. This is an increase from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Linde's payout ratio is 44.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde 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 sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,377 shares of company stock valued at $6,567,231. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.

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