PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Makes New Investment in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators opened a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter, buying 26,689 shares worth about $11.38 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Linde, with an overall “Buy” consensus and an average price target of $541.91; several firms recently reiterated bullish ratings and raised targets.
• Linde reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share, equal to a 1.3% yield.

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators acquired a new stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 26,689 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $11,380,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Binnacle Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of Linde by 10.2% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 2.0% during the 4th 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 during the period. Blalock Williams LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 4.5% during the 4th 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 during the period. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA lifted its position in shares of Linde by 3.3% during the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Mayport LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Mayport LLC now owns 504 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $560.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $530.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $541.91.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $507.90 on Friday. 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 $503.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $468.02. 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 $234.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.73, a PEG ratio of 3.19 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 Dividend Announcement

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 $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were 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 owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total transaction 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 approximately $10,643,729.02. This represents 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.

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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