Mechanics Bank Trust Department Acquires New Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Mechanics Bank Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,346 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 5.8% during the third quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Davis Rea LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,090,000. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $893,000. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth $116,265,000. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,519 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $4.76 on Tuesday, hitting $492.11. 1,394,113 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,327,269. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $548.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $478.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $498.15. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $226.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced 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. Linde had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 20.09%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.700-17.900 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 4.450-4.550 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 41.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Berenberg Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays assumed coverage on Linde in a research note on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $577.00 price target for the company. UBS Group decreased their price target on Linde from $612.00 to $574.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Argus lowered their price target on Linde from $563.00 to $538.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Linde from $532.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $547.29.

Linde Profile

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is a global industrial gases and engineering company that supplies gases, related equipment and process technologies to customers in healthcare, manufacturing, chemicals, energy, food and beverage, electronics, and other industries. Its products include oxygen, nitrogen, argon, hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and specialty gases.

The company provides gases through on-site production facilities, pipelines, bulk deliveries and packaged cylinders. It also designs and builds industrial gas plants and offers technologies and services for applications such as hydrogen production, carbon capture, clean energy, semiconductor manufacturing, metal fabrication and medical care.

Linde traces its history to 1879, when German engineer Carl von Linde developed refrigeration and gas-related technologies.