Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS Acquires Shares of 1,325 Linde PLC $LIN

Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS bought a new position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,325 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $657,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC now owns 511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Blalock Williams LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Blalock Williams LLC now owns 510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in Linde by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Linde by 0.5% during the first quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,159 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,062,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Binnacle Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of Linde by 10.2% in 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 in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LIN. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $560.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Seaport Research Partners boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $559.00 target price on Linde in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $548.67.

Linde Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of LIN opened at $505.03 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $516.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $492.69. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $548.20. The stock has a market cap of $233.50 billion, a PE ratio of 33.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.72. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Linde’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $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, equities analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.50%.

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.