Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Lowers Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 39,517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,025 shares during the period. Linde makes up about 1.4% of Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Linde were worth $16,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in Linde by 108.7% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,086,000 after purchasing an additional 408,659 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at $252,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 2.9% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 4,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,989,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 7.0% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in Linde by 1.6% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 3,297 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,572,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $467.05 on Friday. 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 $222.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.32, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $410.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $440.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $454.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS 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%. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of Linde 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 transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 16,285 shares of company stock worth $7,423,986. Company 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.