Neuberger Berman Group LLC Has $354.29 Million Position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Key Points

• Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its stake in Linde PLC by 4.1% during Q1, now holding approximately 760,871 shares valued at $354.29 million.
• Linde reported $4.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the recent quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenue of $8.50 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 1.3% with a payout ratio of 42.67%.

Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 760,871 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 29,877 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC owned 0.16% of Linde worth $354,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 7,788 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,261,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 300.3% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 26,150 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,948,000 after buying an additional 19,618 shares during the last quarter. AlTi Global Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $971,000. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Linde by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 193,563 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $90,131,000 after buying an additional 82,952 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Freedom Day Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC now owns 6,102 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,841,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:LIN traded up $2.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $480.08. The stock had a trading volume of 1,951,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,506,062. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $468.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $459.69. The company has a market cap of $225.11 billion, a PE ratio of 34.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.67%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total value of $23,815,274.42. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 480,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. The trade was a 9.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $519.63.

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.