Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,510,111 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 13,026 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of Linde worth $717,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,098,772,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Linde by 82.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,683,248 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $799,543,000 after buying an additional 760,954 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in shares of Linde by 18.5% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,972,515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,394,198,000 after acquiring an additional 463,977 shares during the period. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter worth about $187,359,000. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 48.7% in the 2nd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,131,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $530,617,000 after purchasing an additional 370,261 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of LIN stock opened at $444.08 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $417.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $450.25. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $486.38. The stock has a market cap of $207.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $516.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, December 12th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Linde from $475.00 to $455.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.00.

Linde Company Profile

Linde (NASDAQ: LIN) is a multinational industrial gases and engineering company that supplies gases, related technologies and services to a wide range of industries. The company traces its current form to the 2018 combination of Germany’s Linde AG and U.S.-based Praxair, creating one of the largest global providers of industrial, specialty and medical gases. Linde’s business model centers on production, processing and distribution of gases as well as the design and construction of the plants and equipment needed to produce them.

Core products and services include atmospheric and process gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon; hydrogen and helium; carbon dioxide; and a portfolio of higher‑value specialty and electronic gases.