NBC Securities Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 105,140.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,524 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,514 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $4,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in Linde by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on LIN. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $503.11.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock traded down $0.84 during trading on Thursday, hitting $472.93. The stock had a trading volume of 560,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,959,824. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $487.49. 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 stock's 50 day moving average is $452.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $448.21. The stock has a market cap of $222.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.75 earnings per share. Linde's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Linde's payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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.