Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 1,944 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group LLC has increased its holdings in Linde PLC by 16.3% during the second quarter, acquiring an additional 1,944 shares, bringing their total ownership to 13,840 shares valued at $6.49 million.
• Linde PLC reported quarterly earnings of $4.09 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations and representing a year-over-year revenue increase of 2.3% to $8.50 billion.
• Dividend details reveal that Linde paid a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share on September 18th, contributing to an annualized yield of 1.3% and a dividend payout ratio of 42.67%.

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 16.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,840 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,944 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $6,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. North Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde in the first quarter worth $25,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the first quarter worth $41,000. eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde in the first quarter worth $45,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its position in Linde by 445.0% in the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 109 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde in the first quarter worth $52,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 480,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $466.73 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.93. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $474.57 and a 200 day moving average of $464.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. Citigroup upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $519.63.

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.

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