Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Lowers Position in Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 247,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 29,690 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.05% of Linde worth $103,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $252,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $507,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 2,191.7% during the third quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Linde by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 17,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,556,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $464.73 on Friday. Linde plc has a one year low of $410.69 and a one year high of $487.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $455.63 and a 200 day moving average of $454.31. 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 has a market capitalization of $219.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares in the company, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde 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.