Connors Investor Services Inc. Buys 7,448 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Connors Investor Services Inc. grew its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 23.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,025 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,448 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up about 1.6% of Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $18,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the first quarter worth $41,000. eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in Linde during the first quarter worth $45,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its holdings in Linde by 445.0% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Linde during the first quarter worth $52,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total value of $23,815,274.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 480,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $449.92 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $471.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $463.95. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $486.38.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on LIN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $507.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Linde from $530.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.00.

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.