Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 176,650 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,895,026 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 176,650 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,850,137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at $4,243,000. National Pension Service boosted its stake in Linde by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 967,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $459,570,000 after purchasing an additional 24,624 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 205,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $97,526,000 after purchasing an additional 22,489 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 89,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR grew 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 valued at $21,366,000 after purchasing an additional 5,526 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on LIN. Mizuho set a $525.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.20.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $477.94 on Wednesday. Linde PLC has a one year low of $387.78 and a one year high of $510.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $463.95 and a 200 day moving average of $449.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $221.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.82.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.97 EPS. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.