Vancity Investment Management Ltd Lowers Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Vancity Investment Management Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,673 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,544 shares during the period. Linde makes up about 1.9% of Vancity Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Vancity Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Linde were worth $12,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its position in shares of Linde by 12.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC now owns 511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Linde by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,159 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,062,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc grew its stake in Linde by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Ellenbecker Investment Group increased its holdings in Linde by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 652 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $477.57 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.15 billion, a PE ratio of 30.85, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $548.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $502.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $501.97.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.49 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.02 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 20.09%. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.09 EPS. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.700-17.900 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 4.450-4.550 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given 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 (DPR) is presently 41.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on LIN. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Linde from $560.00 to $546.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $580.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Linde from $559.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Linde from $600.00 to $580.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $545.38.

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.