Keel Point LLC Decreases Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Keel Point LLC lowered its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,926 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,659 shares during the quarter. Keel Point LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $3,806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Linde by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,953,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $19,167,559,000 after purchasing an additional 354,800 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Linde by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,319,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,176,828,000 after purchasing an additional 172,162 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,353,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,820,533,000 after purchasing an additional 35,945 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Linde by 8.6% in the 4th 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. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $3,246,750,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Seaport Research Partners raised their target price on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $541.91.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $515.44 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $504.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $471.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.23, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.72. Linde PLC has a one year low of $387.78 and a one year high of $522.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 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.