Swiss National Bank Sells 71,900 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank trimmed its Linde stake by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 71,900 shares and ending with 1,285,001 shares valued at about $547.9 million.
• Linde reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the quarter, with EPS of $4.33 versus the $4.27 estimate and revenue of $8.78 billion, up 8.2% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share, while analysts remain constructive overall with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $541.91.

Swiss National Bank reduced its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,285,001 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 71,900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.28% of Linde worth $547,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 897 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $421,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 5,625 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,639,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $515.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.23, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $504.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $471.14. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $522.89.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced 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 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 last year, the firm posted $3.95 EPS. Linde'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. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $560.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Linde from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price 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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