Westerkirk Capital Inc. Sells 2,454 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Westerkirk Capital cut its Linde position by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,454 shares and ending with 4,538 shares valued at about $1.94 million.
• Linde reported solid quarterly results, with EPS of $4.33 beating estimates and revenue of $8.78 billion topping forecasts; revenue rose 8.2% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share, which equals an annualized payout of $6.40 and a yield of about 1.3%.

Westerkirk Capital Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 35.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,538 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,454 shares during the quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $1,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Linde by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,245,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,477 shares in the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 27,341 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $11,658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth $4,243,000. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd lifted its position in Linde by 45.5% in the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 236,206 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $112,198,000 after acquiring an additional 73,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in Linde by 143.4% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 15,044 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,415,000 after acquiring an additional 8,863 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $501.92 on Tuesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $503.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $468.99. 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 one year low of $387.78 and a one year high of $521.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $232.06 billion, a PE ratio of 33.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72.

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 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.95 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter 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, equities analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Linde's payout ratio is 42.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on LIN. DZ Bank cut shares of Linde from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $560.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target 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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