McLaughlin Asset Management Inc. Invests $843,000 in Linde PLC $LIN

McLaughlin Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 10,454.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,424,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,033,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401,894 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,275,477 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 40.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,130,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,402,317 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,303,494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,751 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $560.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $541.91.

Linde Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $512.15 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $506.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $475.01. The firm has a market cap of $236.79 billion, a PE ratio of 34.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 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 current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.95 EPS. The firm’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 forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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