Focus Partners Wealth Increases Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 15.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 132,405 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 17,380 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in Linde were worth $56,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Linde by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,245,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,477 shares during the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd boosted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its holdings in Linde by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 83,262 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,493,000 after purchasing an additional 2,408 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $521.48 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $505.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $472.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $241.11 billion, a PE ratio of 34.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.72. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $525.87.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.95 earnings per share. The company’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, research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on LIN. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. One equities 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.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.