Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV Purchases 41,147 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV increased its holdings in Linde PLC by 23.2%, bringing its total ownership to 218,815 shares valued at approximately $101.9 million.
• Several institutional investors have also boosted their positions in Linde, with Price T Rowe Associates and Wellington Management increasing their shares by 5.0% and 18.6%, respectively, during the first quarter.
• Linde recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, representing a 1.3% dividend yield and an annualized payout of $6.00.

Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV increased its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 23.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 218,815 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 41,147 shares during the quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV's holdings in Linde were worth $101,889,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in Linde by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 193,563 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $90,131,000 after buying an additional 82,952 shares during the period. Freedom Day Solutions LLC raised its stake in Linde by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC now owns 6,102 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,841,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the period. Exane Asset Management acquired a new position in Linde during the 1st quarter worth approximately $295,000. Hourglass Capital LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the 1st quarter worth approximately $935,000. Finally, Ethos Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the 1st quarter worth approximately $345,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Linde Stock Down 0.6%

LIN traded down $2.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $469.52. 1,066,218 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,500,235. 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 company's fifty day moving average price is $472.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $462.36. The company has a market cap of $220.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.95. 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 released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share (EPS) 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 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 prior year, the company posted $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, 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 issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.67%.

Insider Activity

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 value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.