Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC reduced its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,917 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 96 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $6,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Linde by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the first quarter worth about $401,000. Apella Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the first quarter worth about $267,000. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the first quarter worth about $212,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 480,543 shares in the company, valued at $227,479,445.34. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of LIN opened at $466.73 on Friday. Linde PLC has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $474.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $464.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $218.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%.The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.85 EPS. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Linde has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.300-16.500 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 4.100-4.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on LIN shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup upgraded Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $519.63.

Linde Company 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.