Key Financial Inc Takes $163,000 Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 348 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Breakwater Capital Group boosted its stake in Linde by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Canopy Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.9% in the second quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 788 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA boosted its position in shares of Linde by 1.9% in the second quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA now owns 1,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $559,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Clarendon Private LLC grew its stake in Linde by 1.0% during the second quarter. Clarendon Private LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 834 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ LIN opened at $417.94 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $462.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $464.08. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $486.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $195.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $8.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.62 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.94 EPS. Linde has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.350-16.450 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 4.100-4.200 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total transaction of $23,815,274.42. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on LIN shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $516.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Linde from $535.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Linde from $475.00 to $455.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $514.83.

Linde 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.