258,362 Shares in Linde PLC $LIN Bought by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 258,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $122,632,000. Linde makes up 1.9% of Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Linde as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 3.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,344,181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,558,016,000 after acquiring an additional 719,052 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Linde by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,127,594 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,318,325,000 after purchasing an additional 797,866 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Linde by 20.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,275,477 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Linde by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,402,317 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,303,494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,751 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Linde by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,207,374 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,793,982,000 after purchasing an additional 912,025 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded down $6.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $468.23. 787,015 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,328,393. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $548.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $481.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $498.52. 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 (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 the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $9.02 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $579.00 price target (up from $550.00) on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Evercore raised their target price on Linde from $515.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Bank of America upped their price target on Linde from $532.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Linde from $560.00 to $546.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $547.05.

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.