Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $435.73 Million Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group reduced its stake in Linde PLC by 15.6% in Q4 to 1,021,888 shares valued at $435.73 million, about 0.22% of the company.
• Linde beat Q1 estimates with $4.33 EPS (vs. $4.27) and $8.78B revenue, set FY2026 guidance at 17.600–17.900 EPS, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.60 ($6.40 annual, 1.3% yield).
• Insiders sold 20,332 shares (~$9.75M) over the past three months while institutional investors own 82.8% of Linde; analysts' consensus rating is "Buy" with an average price target of $533.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,021,888 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 188,164 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.22% of Linde worth $435,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 27,341 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $11,658,000 after acquiring an additional 2,234 shares in the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd boosted its stake in Linde by 45.5% during the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 236,206 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $112,198,000 after acquiring an additional 73,850 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the third quarter worth about $4,243,000. National Pension Service boosted its stake in Linde by 2.6% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 967,516 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $459,570,000 after acquiring an additional 24,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in Linde by 143.4% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 15,044 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,415,000 after acquiring an additional 8,863 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Down 2.8%

LIN opened at $493.55 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $496.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $456.06. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $521.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.77, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.73.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.95 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.8 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is presently 42.50%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total transaction of $4,542,654.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,636,202.10. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257 over the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $530.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Linde from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $533.00.

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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