Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 1.4% in Q3 to 227,708 shares (worth $108.161 million), and institutional investors now own about 82.8% of the company.
• Analysts are largely positive—MarketBeat shows an average "Buy" rating with a consensus target of $515.20 and recent upgrades from Citigroup ($545), JPMorgan (to "overweight", $525) and Erste (to "strong-buy").
• Dividend raised to $1.60 quarterly ($6.40 annualized, ~1.3% yield); Linde also beat Q4 EPS estimates ($4.20 vs. $4.18) and set Q1 2026 guidance of $4.20–4.30 and FY 2026 guidance of $17.40–17.90 EPS.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 227,708 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,057 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $108,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Linde by 0.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,638,847 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $20,943,654,000 after purchasing an additional 292,492 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,329,728 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,431,639,000 after buying an additional 83,236 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the second quarter worth approximately $3,098,772,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Linde by 6.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,287,566 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,036,594,000 after acquiring an additional 242,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Linde by 4.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,895,026 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,850,137,000 after acquiring an additional 176,650 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. CICC Research began coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $510.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Linde from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $455.00 to $525.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total value of $4,542,654.75. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,636,202.10. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257 in the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $493.92 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. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $510.65. The firm's 50 day moving average is $467.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $450.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.82.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The business had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.97 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.87%.

Linde 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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