Rice Partnership LLC Has $8.24 Million Holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Rice Partnership LLC raised its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,686 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises approximately 1.7% of Rice Partnership LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Rice Partnership LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $8,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $475.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.94. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $461.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $451.22. The firm has a market cap of $223.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.96.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Argus raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.