Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd Reduces Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd lessened its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,296 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 825 shares during the period. Linde accounts for approximately 2.1% of Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in Linde during the 1st quarter worth about $45,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its stake in Linde by 445.0% during the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Linde during the 1st quarter worth about $52,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $576.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.63.

Linde Trading Down 0.6%

LIN opened at $466.73 on Friday. Linde PLC has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $218.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.20, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.93. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $474.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $464.31.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 19.09% and a net margin of 20.20%.The business had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.85 EPS. The business’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 research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total transaction of $23,815,274.42. Following the transaction, the director owned 480,543 shares in the company, valued at $227,479,445.34. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.