Kestra Advisory Services LLC Trims Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Kestra Advisory Services LLC reduced its holdings in Linde PLC by 16.5%, selling 2,203 shares, which brought their total holdings to 11,150 shares worth $5,192,000.
• Linde reported $4.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the recent quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate by $0.06, while revenues increased by 2.3% compared to the same period last year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, representing a 1.3% yield, with an ex-dividend date of September 4th.

Kestra Advisory Services LLC cut its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 16.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 11,150 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,203 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $5,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. 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 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup raised shares of 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, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a 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 given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $519.63.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded down $3.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $478.29. 2,058,214 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,058,015. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $470.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $461.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.92.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the business 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. Research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.67%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the company'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 transaction of $23,815,274.42. Following the sale, the director directly owned 480,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde 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.