Linde PLC $LIN Shares Acquired by Groupe la Francaise

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise increased its stake in Linde PLC by 13% in Q1, owning 210,199 shares valued at $96.79 million, representing 2% of its total holdings.
• Linde's quarterly earnings surpassed estimates, with a reported earnings per share of $4.09 on revenue of $8.50 billion, indicating a year-over-year revenue growth of 2.3%.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, with a record date of September 4th, reflecting a 1.2% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 42.67%.

Groupe la Francaise grew its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 13.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 210,199 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 24,185 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for approximately 2.0% of Groupe la Francaise's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Groupe la Francaise's holdings in Linde were worth $96,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Linde by 5.0% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 453,108 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 18.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,542,991 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,511,751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182,157 shares during the period. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $2,128,233,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,925,322 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,062,085,000 after purchasing an additional 500,489 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the first quarter worth about $2,097,793,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of LIN stock opened at $481.67 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $469.29 and a 200 day moving average of $461.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $225.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.92. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.35 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%.Linde's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.85 earnings per share. 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, sell-side analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup raised Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $519.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the company'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 of the company's stock, valued at $227,479,445.34. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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