Factory Mutual Insurance Co. Grows Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Factory Mutual Insurance Co. increased its stake in Linde by 10.3% in Q4 to 97,700 shares, valued at about $41.66 million, while institutional investors now own roughly 82.8% of the company.
• Linde slightly beat Q4 estimates with $4.20 EPS (vs. $4.18) and $8.76B revenue, provided FY2026 guidance of 17.40–17.90 EPS, and has a consensus analyst target near $518 with UBS raising its price target to $579.
• Market positioning shows potential risk: short interest rose ~27% to about 7.08M shares (~1.5% outstanding, days-to-cover ~2.5), and insiders sold ~20,332 shares (~$9.75M) last quarter, which could add volatility.

Factory Mutual Insurance Co. lifted its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,100 shares during the period. Factory Mutual Insurance Co.'s holdings in Linde were worth $41,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. YANKCOM Partnership raised its holdings in Linde by 195.2% in the 3rd quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde News Summary

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 Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $503.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $233.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.78. The company's 50-day moving average is $487.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $452.93. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $510.65.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $8.76 billion for 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 revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.97 EPS. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. Analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total transaction of $4,542,654.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,636,202.10. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 over the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $530.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $455.00 to $525.00 in a report on Friday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $518.10.

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.

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