Eastern Bank Reduces Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Eastern Bank cut its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 78,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 779 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Linde were worth $36,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 5.1% during the second quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,444 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,838,000 after buying an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 41.7% during the second quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 3,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at $222,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 12.2% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,159 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,828,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fourpath Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 1.7% in the second quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,975,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total transaction of $23,815,274.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 480,543 shares in the company, valued at $227,479,445.34. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Trading Down 0.9%

LIN stock opened at $453.82 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $474.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $464.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The firm has a market cap of $212.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.28, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The business had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.85 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Linde has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.300-16.500 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 4.100-4.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 42.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on LIN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $507.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Linde from $530.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.00.

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.