Altfest L J & Co. Inc. Takes $1.34 Million Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Altfest L J & Co. opened a new position in Linde, buying 3,150 shares valued at approximately $1.34 million, and institutional investors now own about 82.8% of the company's stock.
• Analysts remain broadly positive with an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $518.10, while several firms have raised targets (e.g., UBS $579, Citi $545) and one cut to Hold ($460).
• Company insiders have sold about 20,332 shares (~$9.75M) over the last three months, and short interest rose ~27% to ~7.08M shares (~1.5% of float), signaling heightened bearish positioning and potential volatility.

Altfest L J & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,150 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,343,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 27,341 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $11,658,000 after buying an additional 2,234 shares during the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its position in shares of Linde by 45.5% during the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 236,206 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $112,198,000 after buying an additional 73,850 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,243,000. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Linde by 2.6% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 967,516 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $459,570,000 after buying an additional 24,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 12.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 205,318 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $97,526,000 after buying an additional 22,489 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $530.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, DZ Bank cut shares of Linde from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $518.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,643,729.02. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total transaction of $3,111,800.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Down 0.0%

NASDAQ LIN opened at $503.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a fifty day moving average of $487.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $452.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $233.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.78. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $510.65.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. Linde's quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. 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, analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Linde's payout ratio is presently 43.87%.

Key Linde News

Here are the key news stories impacting Linde this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $579 and reiterated a Buy rating, implying ~15% upside versus the current share level; this is constructive for longer-term investor sentiment and may support buying interest. Linde Given New $579.00 Price Target at UBS Group
• Neutral Sentiment: Research notes on FY2027 earnings expectations were published (analyst estimates can guide modeling and market expectations but no single clear revision was highlighted in the release). Investors should watch if these notes change consensus versus company guidance. Research Analysts Set Expectations for Linde FY2027 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Several sports outlets ran stories about South African cricketer George Linde joining an IPL team — unrelated to Linde PLC but likely generating noisy search/mention volume that can confuse retail flows. This has no fundamental impact on the industrial gases & engineering business. George Linde set to replace Wanindu Hasaranga at LSG
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest jumped ~27% in March to ~7.08M shares (≈1.5% of shares outstanding) with a days-to-cover near 2.5 — a meaningful increase in bearish positioning that can add downward pressure or increase volatility if shorts scale or cover quickly. No company-specific catalyst was cited for the rise, so this appears driven by positioning/hedging.

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.

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