QRG Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

QRG Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 12,073 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $29,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership increased its position in Linde by 195.2% during the third quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 87.8% in the third quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 77 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the second quarter valued at $48,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Citigroup cut their price target on Linde from $535.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $516.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Linde from $475.00 to $455.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $501.00 price target on Linde in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $499.25.

Linde Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $438.96 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $486.38. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $420.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $449.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.40, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.85.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The company had revenue of $8.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.94 earnings per share. The business’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 analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Linde’s payout ratio is 40.19%.

Linde Company 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.