Nuveen LLC Acquires New Stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC purchased 4,505,182 shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 1st quarter, valued at approximately $2.1 billion, making Linde the 22nd largest holding in their portfolio.
• Linde reported an EPS of $4.09 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $8.50 billion, up 2.3% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 1.3%, payable on September 18th.

Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,505,182 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,097,793,000. Linde makes up approximately 0.6% of Nuveen LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Nuveen LLC owned 0.96% of Linde at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,557 shares of company stock valued at $28,037,479 over the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN traded up $2.85 on Tuesday, reaching $473.23. 1,347,678 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,482,364. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $221.90 billion, a PE ratio of 33.66, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.92. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $467.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $459.22. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.85 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on LIN shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup raised Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $519.63.

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.