NBC Securities Inc. Lowers Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

NBC Securities Inc. reduced its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 73 shares during the quarter. NBC Securities Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,004,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,676,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,744,033,000 after purchasing an additional 405,952 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Linde by 0.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,449,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,513,551,000 after buying an additional 15,187 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Linde by 7.6% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,112,160 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,365,647,000 after buying an additional 218,746 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 8.7% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,993,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $874,908,000 after buying an additional 160,355 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Linde by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,953,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $906,730,000 after acquiring an additional 23,155 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN stock traded up $4.00 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $481.58. The stock had a trading volume of 328,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,836,936. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $466.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $449.90. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $361.02 and a 52-week high of $483.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $231.48 billion, a PE ratio of 37.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.30 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 19.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $477.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $484.18.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,136,996. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.