Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 54,200 Linde PLC $LIN

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 54,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,870,000. Linde accounts for about 0.5% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in Linde by 4.3% during the first quarter. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC now owns 511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of Linde by 10.2% in the second quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Blalock Williams LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Blalock Williams LLC now owns 510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA raised its position in shares of Linde by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA now owns 711 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $522.28 on Friday. Linde PLC has a one year low of $387.78 and a one year high of $527.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $507.52 and a 200 day moving average of $478.89. The company has a market capitalization of $241.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.68, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on LIN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Seaport Research Partners increased their price target on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $543.27.

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.