Whitener Capital Management Inc. Purchases New Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Whitener Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 3,953 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,876,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in Linde by 74.2% during the second quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 54 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 96.6% during the first quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 57 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 1,450.0% during the first quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Polaris Financial Partners bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $493.22 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $548.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $478.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $498.15.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Linde News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Linde this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays upgraded Linde to “strong buy,” signaling increased confidence in the industrial-gases producer’s earnings outlook and business durability. Barclays upgrade report
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada retained an “outperform” rating and its revised $549 target still implies meaningful upside from the current share price, despite the modest target reduction. RBC analyst action
• Positive Sentiment: A recent article highlighted Linde’s exposure to industrial gases and long-term secular growth trends, reinforcing the company’s positioning in essential industrial markets. Linde adds exposure to industrial gases and secular growth trends
• Positive Sentiment: Linde was featured among dividend companies viewed as capable of raising prices without materially damaging demand, supporting its defensive appeal and potential for continued cash-flow growth. Five boring dividend stocks that could keep growing
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst-rating coverage remains an important focus for investors, but the available report provides no specific new earnings or valuation forecast. What investment firms are saying about Linde
• Negative Sentiment: One valuation-focused analysis argued that Linde appears fully valued on current earnings. With a reported forward-looking valuation near 32 times earnings, this could limit upside and make the stock sensitive to weaker growth or disappointing guidance. Linde stock looks fully valued on current earnings

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $542.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Linde from $612.00 to $574.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $560.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $532.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Argus cut their target price on shares of Linde from $563.00 to $538.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $547.10.

Linde Profile

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is a global industrial gases and engineering company that supplies gases, related equipment and process technologies to customers in healthcare, manufacturing, chemicals, energy, food and beverage, electronics, and other industries. Its products include oxygen, nitrogen, argon, hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and specialty gases.

The company provides gases through on-site production facilities, pipelines, bulk deliveries and packaged cylinders. It also designs and builds industrial gas plants and offers technologies and services for applications such as hydrogen production, carbon capture, clean energy, semiconductor manufacturing, metal fabrication and medical care.

Linde traces its history to 1879, when German engineer Carl von Linde developed refrigeration and gas-related technologies.