OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Sells 14,500 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 54.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 14,500 shares during the quarter. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,098,772,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Linde by 18.6% in the 1st 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. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 453,108 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in Linde in the first quarter worth approximately $197,019,000. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $187,359,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $392.68 on Thursday. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $486.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $429.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $456.51. The company has a market cap of $183.36 billion, a PE ratio of 26.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.85.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 21.17%.The business had revenue of $8.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.94 EPS. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.350-16.450 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 4.100-4.200 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Linde’s payout ratio is 40.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the topic of a number of research reports. CICC Research started coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Monday. UBS Group reduced their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $507.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $516.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Linde from $576.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $509.00.

About Linde

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.