Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Buys 16,426 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,426 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $36,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,638,847 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,943,654,000 after purchasing an additional 292,492 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Linde in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,098,772,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 4.8% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,044,833 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,897,755,000 after buying an additional 185,294 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,718,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,744,588,000 after purchasing an additional 24,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,605,118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,690,961,000 after acquiring an additional 40,216 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, December 12th. CICC Research started coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho set a $495.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $499.25.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $434.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $202.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s 50-day moving average is $420.62 and its 200 day moving average is $448.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $486.38.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were paid 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 currently 40.19%.

Linde 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.