Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $686.99 Million Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,385,731 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 94,303 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $686,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Seaport Research Partners increased their price target on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Citigroup started coverage on Linde in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $543.27.

Linde Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $527.67 on Thursday. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $387.78 and a 52-week high of $548.20. The company has a market capitalization of $243.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $513.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $486.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.60 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business 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 was Thursday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.50%.

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.