Unisphere Establishment Sells 15,000 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Unisphere Establishment reduced its holdings in Linde PLC by 3.6%, now owning 400,000 shares worth approximately $186.26 million, making it the 17th largest holding in their portfolio.
• Linde reported earnings of $4.09 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 2.3% to $8.50 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, reflecting a 1.3% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 42.67%.

Unisphere Establishment decreased its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 400,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 15,000 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for about 1.6% of Unisphere Establishment's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Unisphere Establishment owned approximately 0.08% of Linde worth $186,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. North Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Linde in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.6%

LIN traded down $2.87 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $469.52. 1,066,218 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,493,888. The company has a market cap of $220.16 billion, a PE ratio of 33.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.95. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $472.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $462.36. 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 one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $519.63.

Insider Transactions at Linde

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 stock was 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 owned 480,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $227,479,445.34. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is 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.