Sterling Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Linde PLC $LIN

Sterling Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 85,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,704,000. Linde comprises approximately 0.8% of Sterling Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. WASHINGTON TRUST Co purchased a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $289,000. Carderock Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,498,000. BIP Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 3,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,618,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,540,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBL Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 183.3% during the 3rd quarter. MBL Wealth LLC now owns 2,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded down $1.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $508.83. 1,665,640 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,058,353. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $480.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $498.37. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $548.20.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.49 by $0.01. Linde had a return on equity of 20.09% and a net margin of 20.43%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.700-17.900 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 4.450-4.550 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Linde from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, October 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Linde from $535.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Citigroup cut their target price on Linde from $580.00 to $560.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $542.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $547.10.

Linde Profile

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It produces and distributes atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and specialty gases. The company serves customers through packaged gases, bulk deliveries, on-site production and pipeline systems.

Linde’s products and services support a broad range of industries, including healthcare, food and beverage, manufacturing, chemicals, energy, refining, electronics and metals.