Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Sells 59,263 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich cut its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 841,188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 59,263 shares during the period. Linde comprises about 1.0% of Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Linde were worth $358,890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC raised its position in Linde by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 27,341 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,243,000. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 45.5% in the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 236,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $112,198,000 after acquiring an additional 73,850 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 967,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $459,570,000 after acquiring an additional 24,624 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 143.4% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 15,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,415,000 after acquiring an additional 8,863 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $540.00.

Linde Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of LIN stock opened at $513.26 on Thursday. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $521.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $496.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $458.62. 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 company has a market cap of $237.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.73.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 20.44%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business 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, research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total transaction of $2,094,802.03. Following the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,643,729.02. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total value of $3,111,800.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.