Lansdowne Partners UK LLP Buys 25,486 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Lansdowne Partners UK LLP increased its stake in Linde PLC by 6.1%, now owning a total of 445,272 shares, which represent approximately 29.4% of its holdings.
• Insider Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of Linde for over $23 million, reducing his stake by 9.48%.
• Linde recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.2% and a payout ratio of 42.67%.

Lansdowne Partners UK LLP grew its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 6.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 445,272 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 25,486 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up approximately 29.4% of Lansdowne Partners UK LLP's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP owned about 0.09% of Linde worth $207,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Linde by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,600,297 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,470,284,000 after purchasing an additional 453,108 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,542,991 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,511,751,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182,157 shares during the period. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,128,233,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,097,793,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,859,539 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,797,156,000 after acquiring an additional 40,931 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde 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 value of $23,815,274.42. Following the transaction, the director owned 480,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $482.71 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $226.35 billion, a PE ratio of 34.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.92. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $470.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $461.63.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter 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. As a group, research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share 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 $1.50 dividend. 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price for the company. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $519.63.

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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