Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 16.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 126,919 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 24,543 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for about 1.2% of Sterling Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $62,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 4.3% in the first quarter. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC now owns 511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Blalock Williams LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Blalock Williams LLC now owns 510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc increased its position in shares of Linde by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA increased its position in shares of Linde by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA now owns 711 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $560.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $543.27.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $519.89 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $527.94. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $507.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $479.18. The company has a market cap of $240.37 billion, a PE ratio of 34.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.72.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.95 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

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.