Truist Financial Corp Grows Position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 75.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 193,563 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 82,952 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Linde were worth $90,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 211,395 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $88,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 168,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $70,337,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 7,788 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,261,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 300.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in shares of Linde by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,235 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,287,000 after purchasing an additional 4,162 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN traded down $5.99 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $469.59. The company had a trading volume of 2,099,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,970,552. The business has a fifty day moving average of $461.54 and a 200-day moving average of $451.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $221.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.27, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.96. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.75 EPS. The business's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde's payout ratio is 43.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.90.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company's 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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.