Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Trims Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC lowered its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 80.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,519 shares during the period. Linde accounts for 0.0% of Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter valued at $45,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its stake 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 last quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter valued at about $52,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its position in Linde by 5,800.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $420.51 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.91, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.91. Linde PLC has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $486.38. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $459.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $463.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%.The company had revenue of $8.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Linde has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.350-16.450 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 4.100-4.200 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $475.00 to $455.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on Linde from $535.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $576.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $516.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $507.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.83.

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.