Acadian Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Acadian Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 60,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,205 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $28,166,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Linde by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,600,297 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,470,284,000 after buying an additional 453,108 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Linde by 18.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,542,991 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,511,751,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182,157 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the first quarter worth about $2,097,793,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,859,539 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,797,156,000 after purchasing an additional 40,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 1.9% in the second quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,401,590 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,577,624,000 after purchasing an additional 61,829 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of LIN opened at $420.67 on Tuesday. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $486.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $457.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $463.22. The firm has a market cap of $196.43 billion, a PE ratio of 29.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%.The business had revenue of $8.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Linde has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.350-16.450 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 4.100-4.200 EPS. Analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Linde from $535.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Linde from $475.00 to $455.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $516.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $508.83.

Linde Company 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.