AQR Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Linde PLC by 17.2%, bringing its total holdings to 165,041 shares worth approximately $76.31 million.
• Wall Street analysts have a generally positive outlook on Linde, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $519.63, signaling potential for growth.
• Linde recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, which will be paid to investors on September 18th, contributing to an annualized yield of 1.3%.

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 17.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 165,041 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 24,189 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $76,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of 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. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 68,460 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $28,662,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 80.4% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,253 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Linde by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 52,905 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $22,150,000 after acquiring an additional 1,276 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total value of $23,815,274.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 480,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Up 2.3%

LIN traded up $10.89 during trading on Thursday, hitting $483.59. 1,905,617 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,599,259. The stock has a market cap of $226.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.39, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.95. The business's 50 day moving average is $472.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $462.80. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.85 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.300-16.500 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 4.100-4.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde's payout ratio is presently 42.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on LIN. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock 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 upped their price target for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target for the company. Two research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $519.63.

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.