Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 19,632 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its Linde stake by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 19,632 shares and bringing its total holding to 234,593 shares valued at about $100 million.
• Other institutional investors also added to or initiated positions in Linde, and institutions now own 82.8% of the company’s stock, underscoring broad professional ownership.
• Linde reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.33 beating expectations and revenue of $8.78 billion topping estimates; analysts currently have a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $540.

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 234,593 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,632 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned 0.05% of Linde worth $100,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LIN. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 10,454.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,424,869 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,033,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401,894 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $453,274,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $260,822,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,124,882 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $910,129,000 after purchasing an additional 544,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $206,747,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LIN. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $560.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Mizuho set a $525.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $540.00.

Linde Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $510.86 on Tuesday. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $521.28. The company's 50-day moving average price is $497.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $459.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $236.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.73.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.95 EPS. The company's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. 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, research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.50%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the firm'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 owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,643,729.02. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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