Stephens Inc. AR Has $8.51 Million Stock Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Stephens Inc. AR boosted its Linde stake by 91.2% in the fourth quarter, ending with 19,958 shares valued at about $8.51 million.
• Linde continues to draw strong Wall Street support, with analysts giving it a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $540.
• The company recently delivered solid results, beating earnings and revenue estimates for the quarter, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share.

Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 91.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,958 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 9,520 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in Linde were worth $8,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Linde by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Linde by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $736,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its stake in Linde by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 897 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in Linde by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 5,625 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,639,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on LIN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. DZ Bank lowered Linde from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $540.00.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $506.11 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $521.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $497.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $459.41. 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 firm has a market cap of $234.00 billion, a PE ratio of 33.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.73.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 20.44%.The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.95 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total value of $4,542,654.75. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,636,202.10. This represents a 29.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $3,111,800.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Linde

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LIN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.