Linde PLC $LIN is Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s 7th Largest Position

Key Points

• Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in Linde PLC by 8.9% during the first quarter, now holding 107,611 shares valued at $50.11 million, making it the firm's 7th largest position.
• Linde reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $4.09, exceeding expectations, on revenue of $8.50 billion, a year-over-year increase of 2.3%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $6.00 and a yield of 1.2%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 4th.

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 107,611 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,805 shares during the period. Linde comprises 1.4% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Linde were worth $50,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 68,460 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $28,662,000 after buying an additional 1,876 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 80.4% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,253 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $943,000 after buying an additional 1,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 4,158 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,741,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Linde Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $1.65 during trading on Thursday, hitting $480.71. 1,238,426 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,063,729. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.19, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.92. 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 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $468.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $460.76.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The company's revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.85 EPS. 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 predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Linde's payout ratio is currently 42.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 480,543 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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.