Corebridge Financial Inc. Has $71.45 Million Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Corebridge Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in Linde PLC by 3.6%, selling 5,743 shares, so it now owns 153,446 shares valued at approximately $71.45 million.
• Analysts have set a consensus rating of "Buy" for Linde stock, with price targets ranging from $475 to $576, suggesting strong growth potential.
• Linde recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 to be paid on September 18th, representing an annualized yield of 1.2% and a payout ratio of 42.67%.

Corebridge Financial Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 3.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 153,446 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,743 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises 0.4% of Corebridge Financial Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Corebridge Financial Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $71,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. AlTi Global Inc. bought a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $971,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 193,563 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $90,131,000 after purchasing an additional 82,952 shares during the period. Freedom Day Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 9.6% during the first quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC now owns 6,102 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,841,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $468,360,000. Finally, Exane Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at about $295,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

LIN traded up $0.79 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $482.71. 2,259,628 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,496,574. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $470.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $461.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.92. Linde PLC has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%.The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.85 EPS. The company'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, research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of Linde stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 480,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. 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. Citigroup raised 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average 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.