Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Linde PLC by 72.9%, owning approximately $432.72 million worth of shares after purchasing an additional 388,996 shares in the 2nd quarter.
• Linde recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $4.09 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations and reflecting a 2.3% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The stock has received multiple price target increases from various analysts, with a consensus target of $519.63, reflecting overall positive sentiment towards Linde's future performance.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 72.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 922,294 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 388,996 shares during the period. Linde makes up about 0.6% of Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.20% of Linde worth $432,722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Price Performance

LIN traded down $1.20 during trading on Monday, reaching $477.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,016,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,033,886. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $473.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $463.33. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $224.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.98, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.95.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.85 EPS. The business's 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

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 shares were sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total value of $23,815,274.42. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 480,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $227,479,445.34. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on LIN. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $519.63.

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.