Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 20.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,860 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,513 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LIN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,953,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,167,559,000 after buying an additional 354,800 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Linde by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,319,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,176,828,000 after acquiring an additional 172,162 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,353,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,820,533,000 after acquiring an additional 35,945 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Linde by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,127,594 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,318,325,000 after acquiring an additional 797,866 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Linde by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,784,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,171,959,000 after purchasing an additional 695,771 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of LIN opened at $515.73 on Thursday. 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 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $525.87. The stock has a market cap of $238.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $507.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $478.03.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 20.44%.Linde’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.95 EPS. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $543.27.

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.