Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 297,561 Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. has acquired 297,561 shares of Linde PLC, valued at approximately $138.6 million, representing a 0.06% ownership of the company.
• Linde reported $4.09 earnings per share for the most recent quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $4.03, along with a revenue of $8.50 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, which will provide a 1.3% yield for shareholders, payable on September 18th.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 297,561 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $138,556,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.06% of Linde as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Linde in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price for the company. 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. Citigroup upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note 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 issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $519.63.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $2.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $469.52. 1,066,218 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,500,235. The company's 50 day moving average price is $472.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $462.36. The firm has a market cap of $220.16 billion, a PE ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%.The firm's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $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, equities analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde's payout ratio is 42.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. The trade was a 9.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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.