Groupe la Francaise Increases Stock Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Groupe la Francaise boosted its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 16.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 123,437 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 17,515 shares during the period. Linde makes up 0.8% of Groupe la Francaise’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Groupe la Francaise’s holdings in Linde were worth $60,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,246,750,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in Linde by 42,539.0% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,321,809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318,709 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Linde by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,245,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,477 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Linde by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,941,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,680,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Linde by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,402,317 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,303,494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,751 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Seaport Research Partners upped their target price on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $548.67.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $508.64 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $548.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $516.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $496.36. The stock has a market cap of $235.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.77, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.72.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.50%.

About Linde

Linde (NASDAQ: LIN) is a multinational industrial gases and engineering company that supplies gases, related technologies and services to a wide range of industries. The company traces its current form to the 2018 combination of Germany’s Linde AG and U.S.-based Praxair, creating one of the largest global providers of industrial, specialty and medical gases. Linde’s business model centers on production, processing and distribution of gases as well as the design and construction of the plants and equipment needed to produce them.

Core products and services include atmospheric and process gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon; hydrogen and helium; carbon dioxide; and a portfolio of higher‑value specialty and electronic gases.