Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Increases Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden increased its Linde stake by 51% in the first quarter, buying 66,260 additional shares and bringing its total to 196,087 shares worth about $97.2 million.
• Linde reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.33 and revenue of $8.78 billion, both above analyst estimates, while revenue rose 8.2% year over year.
• Wall Street remains bullish on Linde, with multiple firms raising price targets and the stock carrying an average “Buy” rating and a consensus target of about $543.27.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 51.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 196,087 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 66,260 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Linde were worth $97,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,953,116 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $19,167,559,000 after purchasing an additional 354,800 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Linde by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,319,583 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,176,828,000 after purchasing an additional 172,162 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Linde by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,353,011 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,820,533,000 after purchasing an additional 35,945 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Linde by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,127,594 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,318,325,000 after purchasing an additional 797,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,784,371 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,171,959,000 after buying an additional 695,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $546.64 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $547.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company's fifty day moving average price is $510.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $483.39.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. Linde's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is 42.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LIN. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Seaport Research Partners lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $543.27.

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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