Linde PLC $LIN is Confluence Investment Management LLC's 4th Largest Position

Confluence Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 4.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 270,727 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 12,345 shares during the period. Linde accounts for 2.2% of Confluence Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Linde worth $140,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Linde by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,953,116 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $19,167,559,000 after acquiring an additional 354,800 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,319,583 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,176,828,000 after acquiring an additional 172,162 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,353,011 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,820,533,000 after purchasing an additional 35,945 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,127,594 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,318,325,000 after purchasing an additional 797,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Linde by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,784,371 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,171,959,000 after purchasing an additional 695,771 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Up 0.4%

LIN stock opened at $480.46 on Tuesday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $514.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $496.87. The company has a market capitalization of $222.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $548.20.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.49 by $0.01. Linde had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 20.09%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.09 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.700-17.900 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 4.450-4.550 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $560.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Linde from $559.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group set a $612.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Linde from $600.00 to $580.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $543.67.

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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