Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stake Boosted by Nomura Holdings Inc.

Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 46.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,941 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,199 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $28,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wrapmanager Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA boosted its holdings in Linde by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fourpath Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $503.11.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock traded up $3.55 on Friday, reaching $457.77. 1,845,722 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,942,665. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company's 50-day moving average is $451.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $447.77. The firm has a market cap of $215.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $610,662. This represents a 65.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% 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.