Linde PLC $LIN Shares Bought by Nordea Investment Management AB

Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,580,032 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 91,001 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for about 0.7% of Nordea Investment Management AB’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 0.34% of Linde worth $753,573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Linde during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,098,772,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Linde by 82.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,683,248 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $799,543,000 after buying an additional 760,954 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in shares of Linde by 18.5% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,972,515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,394,198,000 after buying an additional 463,977 shares during the last quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new stake in Linde in the second quarter valued at $187,359,000. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 48.7% in the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,131,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $530,617,000 after acquiring an additional 370,261 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. CICC Research assumed coverage on Linde in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 price target for the company. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $475.00 to $455.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $499.25.

Linde Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $443.63 on Tuesday. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $486.38. The company has a market cap of $207.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.85. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $418.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $450.10.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $8.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.62 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 21.17%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.94 earnings per share. 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 expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Linde’s dividend 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.