Ninety One North America Inc. Sells 7,808 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Ninety One North America reduced its Linde stake by 32.4%, selling 7,808 shares and retaining 16,297 shares valued at approximately $7.7 million. Institutional investors still own 82.8% of Linde.
• Linde reported quarterly revenue of $9.29 billion and EPS of $4.50, slightly exceeding estimates, while revenue rose 9.3% year over year. The company maintained 2026 EPS guidance of $17.70–$17.90.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with Linde carrying a consensus “Buy” rating and a $547.10 target price, although some coverage suggests the stock may be fully valued at a P/E ratio near 32. Shares recently traded around $494.71, and the company pays a $1.60 quarterly dividend.

Ninety One North America Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,297 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 7,808 shares during the period. Ninety One North America Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $7,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Morris Harris LLC bought a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at about $847,000. First Financial Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Linde in the third quarter worth about $4,034,000. Hikari Power Ltd bought a new stake in Linde in the second quarter worth about $20,965,000. Generali Investments Management Co LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the second quarter worth about $2,931,000. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 271.8% in the 1st quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 8,462 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,195,000 after acquiring an additional 6,186 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Linde this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays upgraded Linde to “strong buy,” providing the strongest near-term bullish catalyst and signaling increased confidence in the industrial-gases company’s earnings outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: Linde is highlighted as a potentially durable dividend-growth company with pricing power. Its ability to raise prices while retaining customers could support margins and earnings growth. 5 Boring Dividend Stocks That Could Keep Growing While Customers Pay More
• Positive Sentiment: Linde’s exposure to industrial gases and secular growth markets, including demand associated with artificial-intelligence infrastructure, reinforces the longer-term growth case. Linde plc Adds Exposure to Industrial Gases and Secular Growth Trends
• Neutral Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada maintained an “outperform” rating but lowered its price target from $553 to $549. The revised target still implies approximately 10.8% upside, suggesting analysts remain constructive despite slightly more conservative expectations.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage also points to Linde’s potential role in supplying the AI economy and its industrial-gas expansion, while a contract to supply explosion-proof forklifts to Iraq’s Ministry of Oil represents a smaller commercial development. Linde is Powering the AI Revolution
• Negative Sentiment: One valuation-focused report argues that Linde appears fully valued based on current earnings. With shares trading at a premium earnings multiple, additional gains may depend on continued earnings growth rather than multiple expansion. Linde Stock Looks Fully Valued on Current Earnings

Linde Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $2.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $494.71. The company had a trading volume of 828,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,320,112. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.88. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $548.20. The firm has a market cap of $228.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $478.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $498.13.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.49 by $0.01. Linde had a return on equity of 20.09% and a net margin of 20.43%. The firm had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.09 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.700-17.900 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 4.450-4.550 EPS. Research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde's payout ratio is currently 41.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $515.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Linde from $532.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $547.10.

Linde Company Profile

Linde plc NASDAQ: LIN is a global industrial gases and engineering company that supplies gases, related equipment and process technologies to customers in healthcare, manufacturing, chemicals, energy, food and beverage, electronics, and other industries. Its products include oxygen, nitrogen, argon, hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and specialty gases.

The company provides gases through on-site production facilities, pipelines, bulk deliveries and packaged cylinders. It also designs and builds industrial gas plants and offers technologies and services for applications such as hydrogen production, carbon capture, clean energy, semiconductor manufacturing, metal fabrication and medical care.

Linde traces its history to 1879, when German engineer Carl von Linde developed refrigeration and gas-related technologies.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LIN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.