UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC Has $1.47 Billion Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• UBS Asset Management decreased its stake in Linde PLC by 5.8%, owning approximately 3.17 million shares valued at $1.47 billion after selling 194,105 shares in the first quarter.
• Linde’s recent earnings report revealed an earnings per share (EPS) of $4.09, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenues amounting to $8.50 billion for the quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.3%, payable on September 18th to investors of record.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC decreased its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,166,295 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 194,105 shares during the quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned 0.67% of Linde worth $1,474,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Linde by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 40,228 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $18,732,000 after purchasing an additional 11,633 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its stake in shares of Linde by 113.7% in the first quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 215,855 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $100,511,000 after purchasing an additional 114,858 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 87.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,044 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,868,000 after purchasing an additional 8,880 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter worth $323,000. Finally, Vancity Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter worth $13,696,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:LIN traded down $1.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $482.04. 2,069,711 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,617,354. The firm has a market cap of $226.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.95. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49. 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $472.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $462.91.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the firm 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. On average, research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $1.50 per share. 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $519.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total value of $23,815,274.42. Following 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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.