Maren Capital LLC Has $92.66 Million Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Maren Capital LLC raised its position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 13.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 221,326 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 25,950 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for about 7.1% of Maren Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Maren Capital LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $92,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Linde by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,818,608 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,598,737,000 after purchasing an additional 265,455 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Linde by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 81,657 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares during the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,260,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 3,681 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Linde by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 744,711 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $311,788,000 after buying an additional 11,252 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on LIN. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $498.00.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded up $9.95 on Friday, reaching $441.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,342,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,938,062. The company has a market capitalization of $208.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.46, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $456.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $452.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Linde's payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

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.