Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Lowers Stock Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV has reduced its stake in Linde PLC by 17.8%, owning 6,613 shares worth approximately $3,079,000 at the end of the quarter.
• Linde PLC reported earnings of $4.09 EPS for the quarter, beating estimates, with revenue of $8.50 billion, up 2.3% from last year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50, representing an annualized payout of $6.00 with a yield of 1.3%.

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV trimmed its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 17.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,613 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,428 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV's holdings in Linde were worth $3,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Linde by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,834,631,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957,604 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Linde by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,857,741,000 after acquiring an additional 554,480 shares during the last quarter. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd bought a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth $2,128,233,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Linde by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,925,322 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,062,085,000 after purchasing an additional 500,489 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter worth about $2,097,793,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 480,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $227,479,445.34. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN traded up $1.41 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $479.92. 1,457,187 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,074,314. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $468.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $460.47. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $225.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.92.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.85 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Linde has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.300-16.500 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 4.100-4.20 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price 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.