Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV

Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV reduced its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,122 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 296 shares during the quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV’s holdings in Linde were worth $526,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LIN. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter worth about $2,097,793,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Linde by 172.4% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,407,637 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,121,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523,702 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $3,511,751,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182,157 shares in the last quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter worth about $233,405,000. Finally, 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 valued at $4,470,284,000 after purchasing an additional 453,108 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total transaction of $23,815,274.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 480,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Down 2.6%

Linde stock opened at $418.68 on Friday. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $486.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $465.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $464.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.78, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.21 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $8.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.94 EPS. The firm’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. As a group, research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Linde from $530.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $507.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $521.60.

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.