Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group dramatically boosted its Linde stake in the fourth quarter, increasing holdings by 5,163.5% to 84,426 shares worth about $36 million.
• Wall Street remains upbeat on Linde, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus “Buy” rating and average target price of $540.
• Linde reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.33 and revenue of $8.78 billion, while also announcing a $1.60 quarterly dividend payable June 18.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 5,163.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,426 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 82,822 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $35,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blalock Williams LLC raised its position in Linde by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Blalock Williams LLC now owns 510 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its position in Linde by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,102 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc raised its position in Linde by 10.2% during the second quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 237 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA raised its position in Linde by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA now owns 711 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mayport LLC raised its position in Linde by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Mayport LLC now owns 504 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LIN. Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price target on Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $530.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $540.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total value of $3,111,800.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total value of $2,094,802.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,643,729.02. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Up 0.6%

Linde stock opened at $517.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $239.30 billion, a PE ratio of 34.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.73. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $521.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $499.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $462.12. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.60 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 20.44%.The business's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.95 earnings per share. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Linde 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.

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