Sei Investments Co. Raises Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Sei Investments Co. increased its Linde stake by 6.0% in the first quarter, holding 494,915 shares valued at about $245.4 million at quarter-end.
• Linde reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.33 beating estimates and revenue of $8.78 billion topping forecasts; revenue rose 8.2% from a year earlier.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share, while analysts remain broadly bullish with a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $548.67.

Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 494,915 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 28,118 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.11% of Linde worth $245,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Davis R M Inc. boosted its position in Linde by 1.8% during the first quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 148,509 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $73,625,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares during the period. Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Linde by 12.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 122,304 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $60,633,000 after purchasing an additional 13,433 shares during the period. GSG Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $247,000. Finally, Wealthspire Retirement LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Linde stock opened at $508.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $548.20. The firm has a market cap of $235.18 billion, a PE ratio of 33.78, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $516.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $493.27.

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 firm had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.95 EPS. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. Analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Linde's payout ratio is 42.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Linde from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $559.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners lifted their price objective on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $548.67.

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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