Marietta Investment Partners LLC Sells 2,258 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Marietta Investment Partners cut its Linde stake by 70.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,258 shares and leaving it with 944 shares valued at about $403,000.
• Linde posted better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.33 versus $4.27 expected and revenue of $8.78 billion, up 8.2% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus Buy rating and an average target price of $541.91.

Marietta Investment Partners LLC reduced its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 70.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 944 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,258 shares during the quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $403,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 10,454.4% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 2,401,894 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $453,274,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $260,822,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,124,882 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $910,129,000 after purchasing an additional 544,850 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $507.57 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company's fifty day moving average price is $502.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $467.15. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $521.28. The company has a market cap of $234.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.72.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.95 earnings per share. The business'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. On average, analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total transaction of $3,111,800.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total transaction of $2,094,802.03. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,643,729.02. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $560.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners increased their target price on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. One 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $541.91.

Linde Company 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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