Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 44.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,701 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the first quarter worth about $45,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its holdings in Linde by 445.0% during the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde during the 1st quarter worth approximately $52,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Linde in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Linde by 5,800.0% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Trading Up 0.0%

LIN opened at $407.90 on Thursday. 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 PLC has a one year low of $406.09 and a one year high of $486.38. The company has a market cap of $190.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.01, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $443.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $460.26.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $8.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.62 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.94 earnings per share. Linde has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.350-16.450 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 4.100-4.200 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LIN. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Linde from $576.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Linde from $475.00 to $455.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Linde from $535.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.83.

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.