Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Acquires 7,068 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,872 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,068 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $28,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $252,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,023,000. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $459,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 6.6% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,831 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,350,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $590,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN traded down $1.13 on Friday, reaching $448.40. 1,865,299 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,949,184. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.05 billion, a PE ratio of 32.95, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $454.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $450.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.09%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the topic of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $498.00.

Linde 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.