WCM Investment Management LLC Reduces Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

WCM Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,234,984 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 39,064 shares during the period. Linde comprises 3.7% of WCM Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,615,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC now owns 511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Blalock Williams LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Blalock Williams LLC now owns 510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 0.5% during the first quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,159 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,062,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Binnacle Investments Inc grew its position in Linde by 10.2% in the second quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, May 4th. Seaport Research Partners boosted their target price on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Linde in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $548.67.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock opened at $513.22 on Monday. 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 has a market capitalization of $237.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.72. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $387.78 and a 52-week high of $548.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $515.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $491.54.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.95 EPS. The company’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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.88 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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. 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 currently 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.