Independent Financial Group LLC Takes $1.26 Million Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,263,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Enterprise Financial Services Corp increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 663 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 25.8% during the 1st quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super acquired a new stake in Linde during the 1st quarter valued at $7,461,000. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp boosted its position in Linde by 0.7% during the first quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp now owns 32,739 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,231,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its position in Linde by 29.3% during the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 62,284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,878,000 after purchasing an additional 14,122 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $512.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $236.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.00, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.83. The business’s fifty day moving average is $516.10 and its 200-day moving average is $492.13.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion during 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%.Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $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. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LIN. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Seaport Research Partners lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. 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, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $548.67.

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.