North Star Asset Management Inc. Takes Position in Linde PLC $LIN

North Star Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,103 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its position in Linde by 12.9% during the second quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.3% in the first quarter. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC now owns 511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Blalock Williams LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Blalock Williams LLC now owns 510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,159 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,062,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on Linde from $600.00 to $580.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Linde from $559.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Linde from $560.00 to $546.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group set a $612.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $580.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, August 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $545.38.

Linde Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $489.51 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $505.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $501.23. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $548.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $225.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.72.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.09 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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 predict that Linde PLC will post 17.85 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 41.34%.

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.