Linde PLC $LIN Stock Sold by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC reduced its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 136,996 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,198 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $65,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on LIN shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on Linde from $612.00 to $574.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $580.00 target price on shares of Linde and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $515.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $547.10.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $500.57 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $479.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $498.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.34, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $387.78 and a 52-week high of $548.20.

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. Linde had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 20.09%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.09 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

About Linde

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It produces and distributes atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and specialty gases. The company serves customers through packaged gases, bulk deliveries, on-site production and pipeline systems.

Linde’s products and services support a broad range of industries, including healthcare, food and beverage, manufacturing, chemicals, energy, refining, electronics and metals.