Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 233,766 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,083 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL owned 0.05% of Linde worth $99,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LIN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 10,454.4% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,424,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,033,940,000 after buying an additional 2,401,894 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Linde by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,245,255,000 after buying an additional 1,275,477 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Linde by 40.2% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,941,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,680,710,000 after buying an additional 1,130,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth $453,274,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock opened at $518.17 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $505.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $473.53. The company has a market capitalization of $239.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.72. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $525.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.95 EPS. The firm’s quarterly 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $541.91.

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.