Linde PLC $LIN Shares Acquired by GF Fund Management CO. LTD.

Key Points

• GF Fund Management increased its stake in Linde by 5.0% in Q4 to 99,130 shares, valued at about $42.27 million, making Linde roughly 0.7% of the fund's holdings and its 29th-largest position.
• Linde beat Q4 EPS ($4.20 vs. $4.18) with revenue up 6.3% year-over-year, issued Q1 2026 EPS guidance of 4.20–4.30 and FY 2026 guidance of 17.40–17.90, and has seen multiple analyst upgrades leaving a consensus "Buy" with a target near $521.60.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.60 (annualized $6.40, ~1.3% yield), while insiders sold about 20,332 shares last quarter totaling roughly $9.75 million, leaving insiders with 0.70% ownership.

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. grew its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 99,130 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,744 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up approximately 0.7% of GF Fund Management CO. LTD.'s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. GF Fund Management CO. LTD.'s holdings in Linde were worth $42,268,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $970,000. Phraction Management LLC raised its stake in Linde by 413.6% during the fourth quarter. Phraction Management LLC now owns 24,153 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,299,000 after acquiring an additional 19,450 shares during the period. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA raised its stake in Linde by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 4,332 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,847,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc raised its stake in Linde by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc now owns 802 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Linde by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 17,196 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $7,333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,615 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $492.23 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $510.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $228.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $491.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $453.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.97 EPS. Linde's quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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 given a $1.60 dividend. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Linde's payout ratio is currently 43.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. Seaport Research Partners increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $455.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $521.60.

Insider Activity at Linde

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

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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