Groupe la Francaise Raises Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Groupe la Francaise increased its stake in Linde PLC by 29.4% in Q2, now holding 272,028 shares worth $127.8 million. Linde is the 12th largest position in their portfolio. The stock is 82.80% owned by institutional investors. Analysts have mixed ratings on Linde, with a consensus 'Buy' rating and a target price of $508.83. Linde reported Q3 earnings of $4.21 per share, slightly above estimates, and announced a $1.50 quarterly dividend.

Groupe la Francaise lifted its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 29.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 272,028 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 61,829 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for about 2.1% of Groupe la Francaise's portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Groupe la Francaise owned 0.06% of Linde worth $127,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the 1st quarter valued at about $45,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its stake in shares of Linde by 445.0% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 109 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Nova Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Linde in the first quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in Linde by 5,800.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 118 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Linde from $475.00 to $455.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $516.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Linde from $535.00 to $520.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $507.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $508.83.

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Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $407.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.93. Linde PLC has a one year low of $406.09 and a one year high of $486.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $439.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $459.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.91.

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Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm 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. On average, analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.19%.

Linde Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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