Aviso Financial Inc. Has $55.29 Million Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Aviso Financial Inc. increased its stake in Linde PLC by 2.7%, acquiring an additional 3,118 shares, bringing its total holdings to 118,745 shares valued at approximately $55.3 million.
• Linde's stock price target has been upgraded by several analysts, with Royal Bank Of Canada setting a target of $576.00 and Citigroup raising their target from $500.00 to $535.00.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, representing a dividend yield of 1.2% and a payout ratio of 42.67%.

Aviso Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 118,745 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,118 shares during the period. Linde makes up approximately 2.7% of Aviso Financial Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Aviso Financial Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $55,292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LIN. North Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup raised Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $519.63.

Linde Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ LIN traded up $0.96 on Friday, reaching $481.67. The company had a trading volume of 1,782,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,061,979. The company's fifty day moving average is $468.98 and its 200-day moving average is $460.94. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $225.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.92.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.35 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. Linde's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $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, research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.67%.

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.