Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. cut its stake in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,025 shares during the period. Linde accounts for approximately 1.4% of Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Linde were worth $16,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 372.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,567,958,000 after acquiring an additional 2,592,682 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 56,467.9% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,097,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $459,692,000 after buying an additional 1,096,041 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Linde by 2,293.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 782,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $327,593,000 after buying an additional 749,763 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in Linde by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 784,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,086,000 after buying an additional 408,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Linde by 131.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 621,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $296,342,000 after purchasing an additional 353,136 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,285 shares of company stock valued at $7,423,986 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $467.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $440.68 and its 200-day moving average is $454.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

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.