First Financial Bank Trust Division Purchases 8,499 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

First Financial Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,034,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $72,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Linde by 2.6% in the third quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 13,162 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,247,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the third quarter worth about $122,632,000. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in Linde by 3.7% in 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 buying an additional 719,052 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. KeyCorp started coverage on Linde in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $542.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Linde from $576.00 to $553.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $580.00 price target on Linde and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Linde from $560.00 to $546.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $547.05.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $5.20 during trading on Thursday, reaching $469.45. 2,120,577 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,335,868. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.72. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $548.20. The company has a 50 day moving average of $481.25 and a 200-day moving average of $498.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.09 earnings per share. Linde’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. On average, equities analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd were issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.34%.

Linde Company 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.