Marietta Investment Partners LLC Lowers Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Marietta Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 70.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,258 shares during the period. Marietta Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 19.8% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 19.3% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 897 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 3.2% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 5,625 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,639,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $507.57 on Thursday. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $387.78 and a 52-week high of $521.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $502.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $467.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $234.67 billion, a PE ratio of 33.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.72.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.95 earnings per share. The firm’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, research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $541.91.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total transaction of $2,094,802.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,643,729.02. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total transaction of $3,111,800.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.