Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. grew its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,007 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares during the quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $16,364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LIN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake 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 during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in Linde by 42,539.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,321,809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318,709 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 20.1% in the fourth 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 boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 40.2% during the fourth 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 during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Linde stock opened at $519.89 on Friday. Linde PLC has a one year low of $387.78 and a one year high of $527.94. The company has a market cap of $240.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.52, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.72. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $507.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $479.18.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly 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. On average, analysts forecast 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, June 18th. Shareholders 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 payout ratio is currently 42.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LIN. Weiss Ratings raised Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Seaport Research Partners upped their price objective on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Citigroup began coverage on Linde in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $560.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $543.27.

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.