Madison Asset Management LLC Increases Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Madison Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 46,772 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,171 shares during the quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $19,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Saranac Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 134.5% in the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 68 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $540.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,636,202.10. The trade was a 29.93% 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 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Down 0.1%

LIN stock opened at $503.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $496.61 and a 200 day moving average of $458.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $232.96 billion, a PE ratio of 33.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $521.28.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. Linde’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 posted $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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.50%.

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.