PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Acquires 23,966 Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 447,775 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,966 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $208,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of Linde by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 211,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $88,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 7,788 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,261,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 300.3% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 26,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,948,000 after acquiring an additional 19,618 shares in the last quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 55,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,031,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 770.8% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 36,052 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $15,094,000 after acquiring an additional 31,912 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Down 0.2%

LIN stock opened at $459.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.36, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $467.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $457.55. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.85 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $518.80.

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.