Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 22.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,075,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 314,262 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Linde were worth $533,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Linde by 10,454.4% during the 4th 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 period. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in Linde by 42,539.0% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,321,809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,361,000 after buying an additional 1,318,709 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Linde by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,245,255,000 after buying an additional 1,275,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LIN. Citigroup assumed coverage on Linde in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, May 4th. 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. lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $543.27.

Linde Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ LIN opened at $519.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $507.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $479.18. The company has a market capitalization of $240.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.72. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $527.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.95 earnings per share. Linde’s quarterly 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, sell-side analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 42.50%.

Linde 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.