Linde Plc (NASDAQ: LIN) has a price-to-earnings ratio that is above its average at 33.83x. The stock has a 36-month beta value of 0.96. Opinions on the stock are mixed, with 13 analysts rating it as a “buy,” 7 as “overweight,” 8 as “hold,” and 1 as “sell.”
The public float for LIN is 469.38M, and at present, short sellers hold a 1.18% of that float. On March 19, 2025, the average trading volume of LIN was 2.36M shares.
LIN) stock’s latest price update
Linde Plc (NASDAQ: LIN)’s stock price has plunge by 0.09relation to previous closing price of 460.31. Nevertheless, the company has seen a 1.46% surge in its stock price over the last five trading sessions. https://247wallst.com reported 2025-03-13 that This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them. Paul Hilal founded Mantle Ridge in 2016. Before that, he spent a decade as a senior partner at Bill Ackman’s hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, where he was involved in passive and activist investing initiatives. Hilal, a bright individual, graduated from Columbia University’s Graduate Law and Business programs in 1992 and has been in the investment business ever since. Entrepreneurial to the core, Mantle Ridge undertakes extensive research to find value-focused investments and collaborates with management to deliver enhanced shareholder value. This benefits both Hilal’s investors and the target’s existing shareholders. According to WhaleWisdom.com, it has $4.62 billion in assets under management, including $2.1 billion invested in U.S. listed stocks. In the final quarter of 2024, Mantle Ridge had just two holdings worth around $1 billion: one existing stock and one new addition. Here’s why he owns both Air Products & Chemicals (NYSE:APD) and Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR). Key Points About This Article: Billionaire investor Paul Hilal worked for Bill Ackman for a decade before starting his hedge fund, Mantle Ridge. The hedge fund has just two holdings; one is brand new. In January, Mantle Ridge led a successful proxy fight against Air Products & Chemicals (NYSE:APD). It led to three board seats and a new CEO. Over 4 Million Americans set to retire this year. If you’re one, don’t leave your future to chance. Speak with an advisor and learn if you’re ahead, or behind on your goals. Click here to get started. (Sponsored) Mantle Ridge Wins Proxy Fight With APD The news surfaced that the hedge fund had taken a significant position in the industrial gas supplier last October. The Wall Street Journal reported that Hilal’s firm started accumulating a position in APD stock in March 2024, which was only reported in the Q4 2024 13F holdings report. As of Dec. 31, 2024, Mantle Ridge held 4.11 million shares of Air Products, valued at $1.19 billion, accounting for 56.77% of the hedge fund’s portfolio. WhaleWisdom estimates the average price paid for the shares was $307.20. Hilal’s firm owns 1.85% of APD’s stock. Hilal sought to discuss possible capital allocation and strategic decisions that Air Products should consider to deliver for shareholders with the underperforming company’s management and board. It also wanted to see it carry out a succession plan for 80-year-old CEO, Seifi Ghasemi, to get someone younger in place. The report mentioned above was the first inkling of Mantle Ridge’s involvement. The hedge fund’s first SEC document to reveal its participation was its Nov. 19 proxy statement, seeking to appoint its full slate of nine director nominees at its 2025 annual meeting. Hilal was one of the nine. It also included a timeline of the events between Mantle Ridge’s first investment in March and the November filing. On January 23, Mantle Ridge gained three seats on its board: Hilal, Dennis Reilly, a former CEO of Praxair, now owned by Air Products competitor, Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) and Andrew Evans, a utility industry executive. Interestingly, Air Products CEO Ghasemi lost his seat on the board. Two weeks later, Eduardo F. Menezes was appointed CEO, and Ghasemi left the company after 10 years as CEO. Menezes was most recently Executive Vice President of Linde’s EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) business, which generates over $8 billion in annual revenue and has 18,000 employees in 40 countries. APD stock had gained 17% through the first five weeks of 2025. It’s since given back much of those gains. Based on WhaleWisdom’s average price estimate, Mantle Ridge remains underwater on its investment. However, the cancellation of three U.S. projects in February, should enable it to focus on the projects that will deliver greater value for shareholders. Mantle Ridge’s significant investment in Air Products should look better a year from now. The Second of Two Investments While Air Products is new to Mantle Ridge’s 13F holdings reports, Dollar Tree is not. The hedge fund first acquired shares in the dollar store business in Q4 2021. It now accounts for 43.23% of its assets and represents a 5.63% ownership stake in DLTR. It has taken three years for the hedge fund to accumulate the shares it owns today. In Q4 2021, it owned just 100 shares of DLTR stock, while its only other investment was 2.71 million shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK), which were valued at nearly $100 million. By the end of 2022, Mantle Ridge held 11.37 million shares valued at $1.61 billion, 12.10 million at the end of 2023, and the same amount in 2024 as 2023. The average price paid per share is $139.13, double its current price. What is Hilal doing to rescue his firm’s investment? After all, it acquired no additional shares in 2024, despite DLTR losing 47% of its value last year. You would think it would have doubled down. However, the dollar store industry isn’t doing well in America, primarily because its core customers are hurting financially. Changing the board around and other activist go-to moves won’t cut it. Last September, Bloomberg discussed the problems plaguing the dollar store industry. “‘We think the dollar store sector is under extreme pressure from both low-income customer weakness as well as incremental share leakage to competitors like Walmart,’ Truist Securities analysts including Scot Ciccarelli wrote in a note to investors on Wednesday. They said companies focused on low-income customers ‘have continued to substantially underperform given the cumulative, corrosive impact of inflation,” Bloomberg reported on Sept. 4. In November, after 20 months, CEO Rick Dreiling stepped down due to health issues. A month later, COO Michael Creedon, Jr., was named CEO. In February, the company added two retail and consumer goods industry veterans to the board. Shareholders can only hope that the strategic review of Family Dollar stores will result in the sale of what has been a significant disappointment since Dollar Tree acquired it in 2015. It continues to open Dollar Tree stores, grow same-store sales, and generate free cash flow, which was $390 million in the first nine months of 2024, over three times the amount it generated a year earlier. Mantle Ridge can only hope this is the beginning of a turnaround. The post Billionaire Investor’s Hedge Fund Has 100% of Its Assets in Just 2 Stocks appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.
LIN’s Market Performance
Linde Plc (LIN) has experienced a 1.46% rise in stock performance for the past week, with a 0.81% rise in the past month, and a 5.06% rise in the past quarter. The volatility ratio for the week is 1.60%, and the volatility levels for the past 30 days are at 1.85% for LIN. The simple moving average for the past 20 days is -0.07% for LIN’s stock, with a 1.91% simple moving average for the past 200 days.
Analysts’ Opinion of LIN
Mizuho, on the other hand, stated in their research note that they expect to see LIN reach a price target of $510. The rating they have provided for LIN stocks is “Buy” according to the report published on April 18th, 2024.
Citigroup gave a rating of “Neutral” to LIN, setting the target price at $500 in the report published on April 10th of the previous year.
LIN Trading at 2.59% from the 50-Day Moving Average
After a stumble in the market that brought LIN to its low price for the period of the last 52 weeks, the company was unable to rebound, for now settling with -5.49% of loss for the given period.
Volatility was left at 1.85%, however, over the last 30 days, the volatility rate increased by 1.60%, as shares sank -1.10% for the moving average over the last 20 days. Over the last 50 days, in opposition, the stock is trading +11.24% upper at present.
During the last 5 trading sessions, LIN rose by +1.46%, which changed the moving average for the period of 200-days by +8.10% in comparison to the 20-day moving average, which settled at $461.04. In addition, Linde Plc saw 10.04% in overturn over a single year, with a tendency to cut further gains.
Insider Trading
Reports are indicating that there were more than several insider trading activities at LIN starting from Bichara Guillermo, who sale 4,833 shares at the price of $461.65 back on Mar 11 ’25. After this action, Bichara Guillermo now owns 22,778 shares of Linde Plc, valued at $2,231,154 using the latest closing price.
Bichara Guillermo, the Officer of Linde Plc, proposed sale 4,833 shares at $461.65 during a trade that took place back on Mar 11 ’25, which means that Bichara Guillermo is holding shares at $2,231,154 based on the most recent closing price.
Stock Fundamentals for LIN
Current profitability levels for the company are sitting at:
- 0.26 for the present operating margin
- 0.42 for the gross margin
The net margin for Linde Plc stands at 0.2. The total capital return value is set at 0.13. Equity return is now at value 16.87, with 8.16 for asset returns.
Based on Linde Plc (LIN), the company’s capital structure generated 0.37 points at debt to capital in total, while cash flow to debt ratio is standing at 0.42. The debt to equity ratio resting at 0.59. The interest coverage ratio of the stock is 42.53.
Currently, EBITDA for the company is 12.75 billion with net debt to EBITDA at 1.42. When we switch over and look at the enterprise to sales, we see a ratio of 7.14. The receivables turnover for the company is 6.76for trailing twelve months and the total asset turnover is 0.41. The liquidity ratio also appears to be rather interesting for investors as it stands at 0.89.
Conclusion
To sum up, Linde Plc (LIN) has seen a better performance recently. Analysts have differing views on the stock, with some seeing it as a “buy” and others as a “hold”. It is worth mentioning that the stock is currently trading in close proximity to its 50-day moving average and its 52-week high.
