Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 90,858 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Nomura Asset Management boosted its Linde stake by 35.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 90,858 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 348,815 shares worth about $148.7 million.
• Insider selling was notable, with EVP Sean Durbin and VP Guillermo Bichara both selling shares in March, reducing their ownership positions.
• Linde’s fundamentals and outlook remain solid: the company beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, raised guidance, and analysts broadly rate the stock a Buy with a consensus target price of $540.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 35.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 348,815 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 90,858 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.07% of Linde worth $148,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the second quarter worth $25,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in Linde in the third quarter worth $29,000. Saranac Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Linde in the third quarter worth $29,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its position in Linde by 134.5% in the fourth quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 68 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Linde in the third quarter worth $30,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total transaction of $2,094,802.03. Following the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,643,729.02. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Seaport Research Partners upped their target price on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. 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 research report on Thursday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $560.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $540.00.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $497.69 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $501.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $465.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $521.28. The firm has a market cap of $230.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.73.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.95 earnings per share. 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.50%.

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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