KBC Group NV Sells 156,848 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

KBC Group NV lessened its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 23.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 525,612 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 156,848 shares during the period. Linde makes up 0.7% of KBC Group NV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Linde were worth $260,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Triumph Capital Management boosted its stake in Linde by 69.2% during the fourth quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 66 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 134.5% during the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 68 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. High Note Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 108.6% during the 4th quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 73 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC increased its stake in Linde by 1,450.0% in the 1st quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $548.67.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $513.22 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $515.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $491.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $548.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $237.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.08, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.72.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 20.44%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.95 earnings per share. 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, research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.88 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.