Linde PLC $LIN Position Trimmed by Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd.

Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. decreased its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 77.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 852 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,989 shares during the period. Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Linde were worth $400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Linde in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,098,772,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Linde by 18.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,542,991 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,511,751,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182,157 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 18.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Linde by 5.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 453,108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Linde during the first quarter valued at $197,019,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of Linde stock opened at $416.24 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $426.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $455.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.85.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.21 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $8.62 billion. Linde had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 19.38%. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.94 earnings per share. 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 expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut their price target on Linde from $535.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Linde from $475.00 to $455.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 3rd. CICC Research began coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $516.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Mizuho set a $495.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eight have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $501.00.

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.