Linde PLC $LIN Shares Acquired by Legal & General Group Plc

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Linde PLC by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, ending with 2.94 million shares worth about $1.25 billion.
• Several Wall Street analysts raised price targets on Linde, and the stock now carries a consensus Buy rating with an average target price of about $540.
• Linde posted better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.33 and revenue of $8.78 billion, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share.

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,935,016 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 179,359 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.63% of Linde worth $1,251,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Saranac Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 134.5% during the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 68 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was 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 directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total value of $2,094,802.03. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,643,729.02. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Mizuho set a $525.00 price target on Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Seaport Research Partners upped their price target on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Citigroup upped their price target on Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Linde from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $540.00.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $517.58 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $239.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.37, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $499.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $462.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $521.28.

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. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 20.44%.The firm's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.95 EPS. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.50%.

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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