Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. Raises Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. boosted its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 188.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,020 shares during the period. Linde comprises 6.0% of Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda.’s holdings in Linde were worth $18,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Linde by 10,454.4% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,424,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,033,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401,894 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $453,274,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $260,822,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Linde by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,124,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $910,129,000 after purchasing an additional 544,850 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $206,747,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LIN. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $540.00.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $497.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $501.29 and a 200 day moving average of $465.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.73. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $521.28.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.78 billion during 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.95 earnings per share. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th 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 is Thursday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total transaction of $2,094,802.03. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,643,729.02. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total value of $3,111,800.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.