Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP reduced its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 344,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 18,607 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Linde were worth $163,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LIN. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,243,000. National Pension Service raised its stake 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. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 205,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $97,526,000 after acquiring an additional 22,489 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 27.2% during the 2nd quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 417,001 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $195,649,000 after acquiring an additional 89,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR boosted its position in Linde by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 44,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,366,000 after purchasing an additional 5,526 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total transaction of $4,542,654.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,636,202.10. This represents a 29.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Linde stock opened at $484.74 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $510.65. The company has a market capitalization of $224.62 billion, a PE ratio of 33.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50-day moving average of $461.82 and a 200-day moving average of $450.11.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.64 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The company’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.97 earnings per share. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LIN. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Mizuho set a $525.00 target price on Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. DZ Bank lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.20.

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.