Linde PLC $LIN Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Key Points

• Van ECK Associates boosted its stake in Linde by 5.2%, buying 4,693 shares to hold 94,592 shares valued at about $44.93 million, and institutional investors now own 82.8% of the stock with large recent buys from Norges Bank, Assenagon and DZ Bank.
• Linde beat quarterly expectations, reporting $4.20 EPS (vs. $4.18 est.) and $8.76B revenue (up 6.3% y/y), and set guidance of $4.20–4.30 for Q1 2026 and $17.40–17.90 for FY2026.
• Dividend raised to $1.60 quarterly (annual $6.40, yield 1.3%) and analysts still rate the stock a consensus "Buy" with an average price target of $508.20 despite some mixed downgrades.

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 94,592 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,693 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Linde were worth $44,931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,098,772,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Linde by 82.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,683,248 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $799,543,000 after buying an additional 760,954 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its holdings in Linde by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,972,515 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,394,198,000 after buying an additional 463,977 shares in the last quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new position in Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $187,359,000. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its position in Linde by 48.7% in the 2nd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,131,132 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $530,617,000 after buying an additional 370,261 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LIN. DZ Bank lowered Linde from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $530.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $508.20.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total transaction of $4,542,654.75. Following the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,636,202.10. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $481.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.01, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.82. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $465.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $450.10. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month 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.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This is an increase from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.12%.

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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