Wedbush Securities Inc. Takes Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Wedbush Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 8,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,183,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 12.9% in the second quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Blalock Williams LLC increased its stake in Linde by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Blalock Williams LLC now owns 510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its stake in Linde by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,159 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,062,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Linde from $576.00 to $553.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Linde from $559.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Linde from $560.00 to $546.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $545.38.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN stock opened at $489.51 on Friday. Linde PLC has a one year low of $387.78 and a one year high of $548.20. The firm has a market cap of $225.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.72. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $505.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $501.23.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.49 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.02 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 20.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.09 EPS. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.700-17.900 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 4.450-4.550 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 41.34%.

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.