&PARTNERS Acquires 7,794 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• &PARTNERS increased its stake in Linde by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 7,794 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 100,748 shares worth about $42.9 million.
• Linde posted solid quarterly results, reporting EPS of $4.33 versus the $4.27 estimate and revenue of $8.78 billion, with sales rising 8.2% year over year.
• Analysts remain bullish on Linde, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus “Buy” rating and average target of $541.91.

&PARTNERS grew its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,748 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,794 shares during the period. &PARTNERS's holdings in Linde were worth $42,925,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 354,800 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Linde by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,319,583 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,176,828,000 after buying an additional 172,162 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,353,011 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,820,533,000 after buying an additional 35,945 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Linde by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,127,594 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,318,325,000 after acquiring an additional 797,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,246,750,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $518.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.72. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $525.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $505.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $473.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.95 EPS. The business's quarterly 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, equities analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Seaport Research Partners boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $560.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target 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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