Martin Currie Ltd. Acquires 25,920 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Martin Currie Ltd. increased its stake in Linde PLC by 8.7%, holding 325,305 shares valued at approximately $151.48 million, making Linde its 5th largest position.
• Linde announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, reflecting an annual yield of 1.3% and a payout ratio of 42.67%.
• Recent analyst upgrades have set price targets for Linde shares ranging from $475.00 to $576.00, with an average target price of $519.63.

Martin Currie Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 8.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 325,305 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 25,920 shares during the period. Linde accounts for approximately 6.1% of Martin Currie Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Martin Currie Ltd. owned 0.07% of Linde worth $151,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 7,788 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,261,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. AlTi Global Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $971,000. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Linde by 75.0% during the first 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 grew its holdings in Linde by 9.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $468,360,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $227,479,445.34. The trade was a 9.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lifted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $519.63.

Linde Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $1.41 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $479.92. The company had a trading volume of 1,188,786 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,070,070. 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 has a market capitalization of $225.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.13, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $468.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $460.47. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Linde's payout ratio is currently 42.67%.

About Linde

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.