Swiss National Bank Boosts Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank increased its Linde stake by 6.6% in the first quarter, buying 85,360 shares to bring its total holding to 1,370,361 shares, worth about $679.4 million.
• Linde reported solid quarterly results, with earnings per share of $4.33 beating estimates and revenue of $8.78 billion topping expectations; revenue also rose 8.2% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on the stock, with an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $548.67, while UBS has set a higher target of $600.

Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 6.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,370,361 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 85,360 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.30% of Linde worth $679,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Linde by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC now owns 511 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Blalock Williams LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Blalock Williams LLC now owns 510 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,102 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,159 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,062,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Binnacle Investments Inc boosted its stake 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 worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Linde from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $548.67.

Linde Stock Down 1.4%

LIN opened at $513.22 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $548.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $515.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $491.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $237.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.72.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.95 EPS. The company'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, research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is 42.50%.

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.

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.