Essex LLC Sells 1,285 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Essex LLC has reduced its stake in Linde PLC by 18.2%, selling 1,285 shares and owning 5,793 shares valued at approximately $2.7 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Ritholtz Wealth Management and TD Asset Management, have recently increased their holdings in Linde PLC, which is currently 82.80% owned by institutional investors.
• Analysts have set varied price targets for Linde, with UBS lowering its target to $507 while Citigroup raised its target to $535, reflecting mixed outlooks for the stock.

Essex LLC reduced its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 18.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,793 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,285 shares during the period. Essex LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $2,718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in Linde by 11.7% in the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 5,898 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,767,000 after buying an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 2,839 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,332,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,323 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,498,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in Linde by 7.0% in the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 6,115 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,869,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Linde by 8.1% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 401,859 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $188,544,000 after purchasing an additional 30,049 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $227,479,445.34. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. UBS Group cut their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $507.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 6th. 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 report on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $530.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $520.00.

Linde Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $459.25 on Wednesday. Linde PLC has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $474.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $464.46. The firm has a market cap of $215.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.93.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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