Windward Capital Management Co. CA Sells 1,025 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Windward Capital Management Co. CA reduced its holdings in Linde PLC by 1.1% in Q1, now owning 88,130 shares valued at $41.04 million.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Linde, with a consensus target of $519.63 and several analysts rating it as a "buy" or "strong buy."
• Linde recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, yielding 1.2%, with a payout ratio of 42.67%.

Windward Capital Management Co. CA trimmed its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,130 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,025 shares during the period. Linde makes up about 3.5% of Windward Capital Management Co. CA's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Windward Capital Management Co. CA's holdings in Linde were worth $41,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its stake in Linde by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 7,788 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,261,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. AlTi Global Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $971,000. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Linde by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 193,563 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $90,131,000 after purchasing an additional 82,952 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC now owns 6,102 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,841,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $468,360,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction, the director directly owned 480,543 shares in the company, valued at $227,479,445.34. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Trading Down 0.3%

LIN traded down $1.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $480.71. The stock had a trading volume of 1,238,426 shares, 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 P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.92. 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $468.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $460.76. 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 quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.85 EPS. The business'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. On average, equities analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup raised Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a report on Monday, June 30th. 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. 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, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price 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.