Linde PLC $LIN Shares Purchased by Davis R M Inc.

Davis R M Inc. boosted its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 148,509 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up 1.3% of Davis R M Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Davis R M Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $73,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the 1st quarter valued at about $208,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Linde by 12.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 122,304 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $60,633,000 after acquiring an additional 13,433 shares during the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the first quarter worth about $247,000. Wealthspire Retirement LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at about $210,000. Finally, Alpha Family Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 64.7% in the first quarter. Alpha Family Trust now owns 1,910 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $947,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $508.67 on Thursday. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $548.20. The firm has a market cap of $235.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72. The company's 50-day moving average is $516.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $493.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $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. Research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.88 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were given 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 yield of 1.3%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LIN. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Linde from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $560.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $559.00 price target on Linde in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Linde in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set an "overweight" rating for the company. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $548.67.

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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