Natural Investments LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Natural Investments LLC has reduced its stake in Linde PLC by 15.1%, now holding 7,808 shares worth approximately $3.66 million, which constitutes about 0.9% of its investment portfolio.
• Linde's latest earnings report indicated a quarterly EPS of $4.09, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenues totaling $8.50 billion, marking a 2.3% year-over-year growth.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $6.00 and a yield of 1.3%, with a current payout ratio of 42.67%.

Natural Investments LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 15.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,808 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,393 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises about 0.9% of Natural Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Natural Investments LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $3,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. North Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at $41,000. eCIO Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at $45,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its stake in shares of Linde by 445.0% in the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 109 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ LIN opened at $453.82 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $474.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $464.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $212.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.28, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.93. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.35 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.67%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total transaction of $23,815,274.42. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 480,543 shares in the company, valued at $227,479,445.34. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LIN. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $507.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Linde from $530.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $520.00.

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.

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