Sandhill Capital Partners LLC Sells 540 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Sandhill Capital Partners LLC reduced its stake in Linde PLC by 0.6%, selling 540 shares and now holding 91,019 shares, valued at approximately $42.38 million.
• Several other institutional investors have recently entered positions in Linde, with 82.80% of the stock owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Linde reported better than expected quarterly earnings, with a profit of $4.09 per share, exceeding the consensus estimate by $0.06, and has set optimistic guidance for FY 2025.

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC cut its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 91,019 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 540 shares during the period. Linde accounts for 3.5% of Sandhill Capital Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $42,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. North Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $481.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,782,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,458,979. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $469.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $461.12. The stock has a market cap of $225.86 billion, a PE ratio of 34.26, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.85 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.67%.

Insider Activity

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

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.