Linde PLC $LIN Shares Acquired by Blue Trust Inc.

Key Points

• Blue Trust Inc. has increased its stake in Linde PLC by 12.2%, owning 8,159 shares worth approximately $3,828,000 after acquiring an additional 884 shares in the 2nd quarter.
• Equity research analysts have shown optimism for Linde, with Citigroup raising the price target from $530 to $535 and a majority rating it as a "Buy."
• Linde recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $6.00 and a yield of 1.3%.

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,159 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 884 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $3,828,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Linde by 37.5% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,833 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,790,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its position in Linde by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 2,208 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,028,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Linde by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,336 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,416,000 after buying an additional 1,488 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $530.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $507.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $520.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock opened at $458.16 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $474.56 and a 200-day moving average of $464.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.59, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.85 EPS. The firm'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, analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde's payout ratio is 42.67%.

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.

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