Blue Trust Inc. Trims Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Blue Trust Inc. reduced its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 20.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,860 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,513 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Saranac Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Triumph Capital Management raised its holdings in Linde by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 66 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on Linde in a research note on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Seaport Research Partners upped their target price on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $543.27.

Linde Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of LIN opened at $515.73 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $238.45 billion, a PE ratio of 34.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s fifty day moving average is $507.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $478.03. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $525.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.78 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.95 EPS. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. Analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. 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 42.50%.

Linde Company 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.