Madison Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Linde PLC $LIN

Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 51,703 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,831,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 14.1% in 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 increased its stake 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 valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its stake in Linde by 19.3% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 897 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 3.2% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 5,625 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,639,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $481.13 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $509.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $500.19. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $548.20. The company has a market cap of $221.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.08, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.72.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.49 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.02 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 20.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.09 earnings per share. 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, analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LIN. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Linde from $576.00 to $553.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Linde from $560.00 to $546.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Linde from $600.00 to $580.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $545.38.

Linde Company 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.