State of Michigan Retirement System Has $54.20 Million Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

State of Michigan Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 127,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,600 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Linde were worth $54,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Binnacle Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Linde by 10.2% during the second quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA lifted its position in Linde by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA now owns 711 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Mayport LLC lifted its position in Linde by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Mayport LLC now owns 504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. now owns 841 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 793 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $510.30 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $236.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.78. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $510.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $495.16 and a 200-day moving average of $454.66.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The business had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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 research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.81 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 43.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total transaction of $2,094,802.03. Following the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,643,729.02. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257 in the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on LIN. UBS Group upped their target price on Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. DZ Bank cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Linde from $512.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $527.80.

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.