T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Buys 121,436 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. significantly increased its holdings in Linde PLC by 166.4% in the first quarter, now owning 194,394 shares valued at approximately $90.5 million.
• Linde's latest earnings report revealed an EPS of $4.09, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenues of $8.50 billion for the quarter, marking a 2.3% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.2%, which will be paid on September 18th to stockholders of record as of September 4th.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 166.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 194,394 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 121,436 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $90,518,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategy Asset Managers LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 2.8% during the first quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 834 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 2.5% during the first quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 999 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Linde by 0.8% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,207 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,493,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 3.0% during the first quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 816 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockingstone Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 0.3% during the first quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 8,340 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,883,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Linde stock traded down $3.82 during trading on Monday, reaching $477.85. 1,151,751 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,056,474. 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 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $469.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $461.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.07 billion, a PE ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.92.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.85 EPS. Linde'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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.