Alberta Investment Management Corp Takes $2.86 Million Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 6,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,862,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Cornerstone Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 54.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 24,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,354,000 after buying an additional 8,500 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Linde by 45.9% during the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 53,094 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,911,000 after purchasing an additional 16,696 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Linde by 15.4% in the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 39,511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,538,000 after purchasing an additional 5,275 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Linde by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 68,336 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,062,000 after purchasing an additional 7,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWS Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,497 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN opened at $423.39 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $454.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $462.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $408.65 and a 1 year high of $486.38. The stock has a market cap of $197.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.11, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.91.

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 firm had revenue of $8.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is currently 40.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on LIN shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Linde from $576.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $507.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Linde from $475.00 to $455.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a 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 given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.