Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Short Interest Update

Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 8,441,173 shares, an increase of 24.9% from the November 30th total of 6,758,131 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,439,334 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,439,334 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LIN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Linde from $475.00 to $455.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of 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 “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday. Mizuho set a $495.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.00.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $426.39 on Friday. Linde has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $486.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $417.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $451.40. The company has a market capitalization of $199.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.56, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.85.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The company had revenue of $8.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.94 EPS. The business’s revenue 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. As a group, analysts expect that Linde will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Linde during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,098,772,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth approximately $453,274,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 82.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,683,248 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $799,543,000 after acquiring an additional 760,954 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $260,822,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in Linde by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,972,515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,394,198,000 after purchasing an additional 463,977 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.