Independent Financial Group LLC Buys Shares of 2,548 Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Independent Financial Group LLC opened a new position in Linde PLC during the first quarter, buying 2,548 shares valued at about $1.263 million.
• Linde’s latest earnings beat expectations, with Q1 EPS of $4.33 versus $4.27 expected and revenue of $8.78 billion, up 8.2% year over year.
• The company continues to attract upbeat Wall Street views, with analysts assigning a Buy consensus and an average price target of $548.67, while Linde also pays a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share.

Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,548 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,263,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 10,454.4% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,424,869 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,033,940,000 after buying an additional 2,401,894 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 42,539.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,321,809 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $56,361,000 after buying an additional 1,318,709 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,245,255,000 after buying an additional 1,275,477 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Linde by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,941,719 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,680,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130,001 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $512.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $236.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.00, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50-day moving average of $516.10 and a 200-day moving average of $492.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $548.20.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 20.44%.The business had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.95 earnings per share. Linde's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $559.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Linde from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Seaport Research Partners increased their target price on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $560.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $548.67.

About Linde

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.

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