Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA Increases Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA boosted its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 64,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,522 shares during the period. Linde makes up approximately 2.1% of Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA’s holdings in Linde were worth $31,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 10,454.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,424,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,033,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401,894 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in Linde by 42,539.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,321,809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318,709 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Linde by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,245,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Linde by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,941,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,680,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,001 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $527.67 on Thursday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $513.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $486.71. The company has a market cap of $243.97 billion, a PE ratio of 35.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.72. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $548.20.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Seaport Research Partners boosted their price objective on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $543.27.

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.