Kestra Advisory Services LLC Raises Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 38.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 24,381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,711 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $12,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 10,454.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,424,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,033,940,000 after buying an additional 2,401,894 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in Linde by 42,539.0% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,321,809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,361,000 after buying an additional 1,318,709 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,245,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,941,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,680,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130,001 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LIN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $541.75.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $529.79 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $513.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $488.19. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $548.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $244.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.72.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.50%.

About Linde

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.