Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG decreased its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 14.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60,776 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 10,055 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Linde were worth $28,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 91,346 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,389,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $376,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 121.4% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 3,750 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,781,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Finally, McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $371,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $516.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday. CICC Research began coverage on Linde in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 target price for the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho set a $495.00 price target on Linde in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.00.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $426.39 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $417.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $451.40. The company has a market cap of $199.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.56, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.82. Linde PLC has a one year low of $387.78 and a one year high of $486.38.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the company earned $3.94 EPS. The company’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 and its Q4 2025 guidance at 4.100-4.200 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Linde’s payout ratio is 40.19%.

Linde Company 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.