Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Holdings Lifted by Procyon Advisors LLC

Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,873 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,055,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 0.4% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 34,434,793 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,122,411,000 after purchasing an additional 147,415 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Linde by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,118,836 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,666,886,000 after purchasing an additional 134,593 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,919,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,182,870,000 after acquiring an additional 354,506 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Linde by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,587,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,315,068,000 after acquiring an additional 488,655 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,409,138,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,248.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded down $1.53 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $464.70. 185,936 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,386,398. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $436.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $409.21. Linde plc has a 12 month low of $348.38 and a 12 month high of $477.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.79 billion, a PE ratio of 37.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Linde had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.16 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $503.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $448.93.

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.