Vertrix Wealth Management LLC Takes $5.22 Million Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Vertrix Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 10,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,222,000. Linde comprises approximately 1.9% of Vertrix Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Linde by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,245,255,000 after buying an additional 1,275,477 shares during the period. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Linde by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 27,341 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,658,000 after acquiring an additional 2,234 shares during the period. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd boosted its stake in Linde by 45.5% during the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 236,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $112,198,000 after acquiring an additional 73,850 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in Linde by 143.4% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 15,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,415,000 after acquiring an additional 8,863 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG grew its holdings in Linde by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 83,262 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,493,000 after purchasing an additional 2,408 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of Linde stock opened at $533.55 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $246.69 billion, a PE ratio of 35.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.72. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $387.78 and a 52-week high of $538.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $509.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $482.47.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.95 earnings per share. 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 anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LIN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup began coverage on Linde in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Seaport Research Partners raised their price objective on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $543.27.

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.