Confluence Investment Management LLC Has $148.47 Million Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Confluence Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 316,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,011 shares during the period. Linde accounts for approximately 2.1% of Confluence Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Linde worth $148,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. North Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Linde in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock opened at $482.04 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $472.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $462.90. The firm has a market cap of $226.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $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. On average, analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.