Westerkirk Capital Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,746 Linde PLC $LIN

Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $819,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of Linde by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 10,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,709,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 98,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $45,904,000 after buying an additional 6,203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC grew its position in Linde by 0.3% in the first quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 12,926 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,019,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.4%

LIN opened at $408.79 on Wednesday. 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 $190.88 billion, a PE ratio of 29.07, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.91. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $404.27 and a 1-year high of $486.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $438.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $459.08.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced 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 net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The company had revenue of $8.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.94 earnings per share. Linde’s quarterly revenue 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 40.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on LIN. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Linde from $535.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $576.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $516.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $509.00.

About Linde

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.