Linde PLC $LIN Shares Bought by Groupe la Francaise

Groupe la Francaise grew its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 16.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 123,437 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 17,515 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for about 0.8% of Groupe la Francaise’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Groupe la Francaise’s holdings in Linde were worth $60,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LIN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,953,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,167,559,000 after purchasing an additional 354,800 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Linde by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,319,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,176,828,000 after buying an additional 172,162 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Linde by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,353,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,820,533,000 after buying an additional 35,945 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Linde by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,127,594 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,318,325,000 after buying an additional 797,866 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Linde by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,784,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,171,959,000 after buying an additional 695,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $508.64 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $516.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $496.36. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $387.78 and a 52-week high of $548.20. The company has a market cap of $235.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.77, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.60 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $560.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $548.67.

Linde Profile

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.