Baird Financial Group Inc. Purchases 2,141 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 168,010 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,141 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $78,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Breakwater Capital Group raised its position in Linde by 2.3% in the second quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Canopy Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 788 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA increased its stake in shares of Linde by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA now owns 1,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Clarendon Private LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Clarendon Private LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC lifted its position in Linde by 1.4% during the second quarter. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $767,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Linde from $576.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Monday. CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $516.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $509.00.

Linde Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of LIN opened at $403.73 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $435.52 and its 200 day moving average is $458.35. 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 $401.93 and a 12-month high of $486.38. The company has a market capitalization of $188.52 billion, a PE ratio of 27.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.85.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted 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 return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 21.17%.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 company posted $3.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.350-16.450 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 4.100-4.200 EPS. Research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 40.19%.

Linde 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.