Community Trust & Investment Co. Trims Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Community Trust & Investment Co. lessened its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,298 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,087 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for 1.4% of Community Trust & Investment Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in Linde were worth $27,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 20.1% during 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 period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Linde by 143.4% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 15,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,415,000 after buying an additional 8,863 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Linde by 177.2% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,263,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $538,558,000 after buying an additional 807,370 shares during the period. Trium Capital LLP lifted its holdings in Linde by 85.3% during the 4th quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 5,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,188,000 after buying an additional 2,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Linde by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,198,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $511,056,000 after buying an additional 231,048 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Trading Down 0.0%

NASDAQ LIN opened at $489.98 on Friday. Linde PLC has a one year low of $387.78 and a one year high of $548.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $225.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $513.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $497.85.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.49 by $0.01. Linde had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 20.09%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.09 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.700-17.900 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 4.450-4.550 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. 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 note on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Seaport Research Partners boosted their price target on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Linde from $600.00 to $580.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $543.67.

About Linde

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.