Mirova Increases Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Mirova has increased its stake in Linde PLC by 8.0%, acquiring an additional 1,023 shares, bringing its total holdings to 13,733 shares valued at approximately $6.4 million.
• Analysts are optimistic about Linde's stock, with two analysts rating it as Strong Buy and a consensus rating of "Buy" along with an average price target of $519.63.
• Linde recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, yielding about 1.2%, with a payout ratio of 42.67% for the fiscal year.

Mirova boosted its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 8.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,733 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares during the period. Linde comprises approximately 1.2% of Mirova's holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Mirova's holdings in Linde were worth $6,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 480,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $227,479,445.34. The trade was a 9.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LIN. 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 report on Monday, August 4th. 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 report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $519.63.

Linde Trading Down 0.1%

LIN stock traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $482.15. The stock had a trading volume of 2,265,652 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,056,803. The firm has a market cap of $226.08 billion, a PE ratio of 34.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.92. 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 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company's 50-day moving average price is $470.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $461.63.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.35 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. Linde's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company 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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Linde's payout ratio is presently 42.67%.

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.