Metis Global Partners LLC Decreases Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Metis Global Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,128 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,586 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $10,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the first quarter worth $2,097,793,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 172.4% in 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 buying an additional 1,523,702 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Linde by 18.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,542,991 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,511,751,000 after buying an additional 1,182,157 shares during the period. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt purchased a new stake in Linde during the first quarter worth about $233,405,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Linde by 5.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,600,297 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,470,284,000 after acquiring an additional 453,108 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Linde stock opened at $420.51 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $459.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $463.26. 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 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $486.38. The company has a market cap of $196.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.91, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.91.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The business had revenue of $8.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.94 EPS. Linde’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. On average, equities analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LIN. Citigroup reduced 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. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $516.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Linde from $576.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $508.83.

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.