Sit Investment Associates Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Sit Investment Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 18.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,025 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $19,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 19.8% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Linde by 19.3% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 897 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 3.2% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 5,625 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,639,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on LIN shares. Seaport Research Partners raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $560.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $541.91.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $515.44 on Friday. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $522.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $504.26 and a 200 day moving average of $471.14. The company has a market capitalization of $238.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.72.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.95 earnings per share. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.50%.

Linde 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.