Polaris Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Polaris Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in Linde PLC by 29.2%, now holding 168,269 shares valued at approximately $78.9 million.
• Various institutional investors made notable adjustments to their positions in Linde, including Deutsche Bank AG, which increased its holdings by 172.4%.
• Linde announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50, translating to an annual yield of 1.3%, with a payout ratio of 42.67%.

Polaris Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 29.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 168,269 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 69,351 shares during the period. Linde comprises approximately 5.3% of Polaris Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Polaris Capital Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $78,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,097,793,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Linde by 172.4% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,407,637 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,121,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,523,702 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Linde by 18.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,542,991 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,511,751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182,157 shares during the last quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at approximately $233,405,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Linde by 5.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,600,297 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,470,284,000 after purchasing an additional 453,108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 480,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Linde Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of LIN stock opened at $466.73 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $474.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $464.31. The company has a market cap of $218.85 billion, a PE ratio of 33.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.93. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. 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 issued its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%.The company's revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $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. Equities analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.67%.

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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