1,288,920 Shares in Linde PLC $LIN Purchased by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group acquired 1,288,920 Linde shares worth approximately $611.8 million, giving it a 0.28% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 82.8% of Linde.
• Linde’s third-quarter results exceeded expectations, with adjusted EPS of $4.59 and revenue of $9.40 billion, supported by pricing, volume growth, electronics demand and AI-related semiconductor investment.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook, with Linde rated “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.14, though restructuring costs, uneven industrial demand and fourth-quarter EPS guidance of $4.40–$4.50 present near-term risks.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,288,920 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $611,786,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of Linde as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. State Street Corp grew its position in Linde by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,344,181 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,558,016,000 after purchasing an additional 719,052 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in Linde by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,162,409 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,567,796,000 after purchasing an additional 373,012 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,740,541 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,358,712,000 after purchasing an additional 64,078 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 28.6% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,624,728 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $805,475,000 after purchasing an additional 361,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 6.6% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,370,361 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $679,370,000 after purchasing an additional 85,360 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Linde from $612.00 to $574.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Linde from $542.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Linde from $560.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Linde from $532.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $550.14.

Linde News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Linde this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results exceeded expectations: Adjusted EPS was $4.59, above the $4.52 consensus and up 9% year over year, while sales rose 9.3% to $9.40 billion, topping the $9.16 billion estimate. Linde Reports Third-Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Growth drivers remain intact: Higher pricing, volume growth in the Americas, strong electronics demand and AI-related semiconductor investment supported the quarter. Management also cited a $7.9 billion project backlog, providing visibility into future growth. LIN Q3 Earnings Call Highlights Restructuring and Growth Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their valuation targets: Barclays lifted its target from $577 to $591 and maintained an “overweight” rating, while RBC raised its target from $549 to $568 and upgraded or maintained an “outperform” view. The revisions signal continued confidence in Linde’s earnings durability and growth prospects.
• Neutral Sentiment: Underlying performance was stronger than reported GAAP results: GAAP net income declined 12% because of purchase-accounting effects and restructuring-related items, but adjusted net income increased 7% to $2.12 billion. Linde plc Q3 2026 Earnings Call Summary
• Negative Sentiment: Restructuring and near-term uncertainty temper the outlook: Linde expects a $425 million restructuring charge and guided fourth-quarter EPS to $4.40–$4.50. Uneven industrial demand, margin pressure and an evaluation of options for Lincare could limit near-term upside.

Linde Trading Up 2.2%

NASDAQ LIN opened at $514.24 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $548.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $237.05 billion, a PE ratio of 34.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.71. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $483.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $492.35.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $9.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.16 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 19.34%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.21 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 3rd. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.34%.

Linde Company Profile

Linde plc NASDAQ: LIN is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It produces and distributes atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and specialty gases. The company serves customers through packaged gases, bulk deliveries, on-site production and pipeline systems.

Linde's products and services support a broad range of industries, including healthcare, food and beverage, manufacturing, chemicals, energy, refining, electronics and metals.

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