Smith Salley Wealth Management Increases Stock Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Smith Salley Wealth Management increased its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 53,393 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,866 shares during the period. Linde accounts for about 1.3% of Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Linde were worth $25,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Linde by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,638,847 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,943,654,000 after purchasing an additional 292,492 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Linde in the second quarter valued at $3,098,772,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 4.8% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,044,833 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,897,755,000 after acquiring an additional 185,294 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Linde by 0.7% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,718,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,744,588,000 after purchasing an additional 24,046 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 1.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,605,118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,690,961,000 after buying an additional 40,216 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on LIN. BMO Capital Markets set a $501.00 target price on Linde in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Linde from $535.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Mizuho set a $495.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $501.00.

Linde Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of LIN stock opened at $428.36 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $200.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.85. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $486.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $418.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $451.75.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 21.17%.The firm had revenue of $8.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly 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. Equities research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.19%.

About Linde

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.