Clarkston Capital Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 17,266 Linde PLC $LIN

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 17,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,362,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Saranac Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Triumph Capital Management grew its stake in shares of 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. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Erste Group Bank raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citigroup upped their target price on Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $541.91.

Linde Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $523.57 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $387.78 and a 52-week high of $525.82. The stock has a market cap of $242.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average is $504.86 and its 200 day moving average is $471.51. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.95 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 predict that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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