Trek Financial LLC Acquires New Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Trek Financial LLC opened a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter, buying 3,563 shares worth about $1.52 million.
• Linde reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.33 versus $4.27 expected and revenue of $8.78 billion, up 8.2% year over year.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share, payable June 18, which annualizes to $6.40 and yields about 1.3%.

Trek Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,563 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,519,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 27,341 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $11,658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,243,000. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its position in shares of Linde by 45.5% in the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 236,206 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $112,198,000 after purchasing an additional 73,850 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in shares of Linde by 143.4% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 15,044 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,415,000 after purchasing an additional 8,863 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Linde by 2.6% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 967,516 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $459,570,000 after purchasing an additional 24,624 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Seaport Research Partners lifted their price target 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 lowered shares of Linde from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Linde from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $540.00.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total transaction of $3,111,800.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total value of $2,094,802.03. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,643,729.02. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.1%

LIN opened at $503.87 on Wednesday. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $521.28. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $496.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $458.17. The company has a market capitalization of $232.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.73.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 previous year, the company earned $3.95 earnings per share. The business's revenue 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. On average, analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is currently 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.

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