Linde PLC $LIN Stake Boosted by Smartleaf Asset Management LLC

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,344 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. North Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter worth $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $481.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.86 billion, a PE ratio of 34.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.92. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $469.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $461.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.35 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.85 earnings per share. Linde has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.300-16.500 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 4.100-4.20 EPS. Analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 42.67%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total transaction of $23,815,274.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 480,543 shares in the company, valued at $227,479,445.34. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $519.63.

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.