Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Grows Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Linde PLC by 2.7%, now owning 1,523,137 shares valued at approximately $714.6 million.
• Linde recently reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $4.03, while also achieving a quarterly revenue of $8.50 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, signaling a healthy annualized dividend yield of 1.3% with a payout ratio of 42.67%.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,523,137 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 39,642 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of Linde worth $714,625,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 1.3% in the second quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 249,742 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $117,174,000 after acquiring an additional 3,230 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Linde by 75.0% in the first quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 193,563 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $90,131,000 after buying an additional 82,952 shares during the period. Freedom Day Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 9.6% in the first quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC now owns 6,102 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,841,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 25.9% in the first quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 23,558 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,970,000 after buying an additional 4,839 shares during the period. Finally, Exane Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter worth about $295,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $449.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $210.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $470.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $464.12. Linde PLC has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $486.38.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.85 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Linde has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.300-16.500 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 4.100-4.20 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $507.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Linde from $530.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $520.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was 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 directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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.

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