Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Lowers Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lowered its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 715,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 96,000 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Linde were worth $305,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Saranac Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Triumph Capital Management raised its position in Linde by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 66 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Caitlin John LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $560.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Seaport Research Partners lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $541.91.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock opened at $518.17 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $505.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $473.53. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $525.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $239.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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