Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Parnassus Investments LLC

Parnassus Investments LLC lowered its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,818,692 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 278,093 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises about 2.0% of Parnassus Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Parnassus Investments LLC owned about 0.39% of Linde worth $775,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Saranac Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC lifted its position in Linde by 134.5% during the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 68 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, High Note Wealth LLC lifted its position in Linde by 108.6% during the 4th quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 73 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Erste Group Bank raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $541.91.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $515.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $238.31 billion, a PE ratio of 34.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $504.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $471.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $387.78 and a 52-week high of $522.89.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.60 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 20.44%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.95 EPS. 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, equities analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.50%.

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.