Rathbones Group PLC Boosts Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC boosted its stake in Linde by 4% in the fourth quarter, buying 23,578 more shares and bringing its total holding to 608,141 shares valued at about $259.3 million.
• Linde posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, with EPS of $4.33 versus estimates of $4.27 and revenue of $8.78 billion versus $8.60 billion expected; the company also raised guidance for fiscal 2026 and Q2 2026.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share, payable June 18, while analysts remain mostly bullish with an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $540.

Rathbones Group PLC increased its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 608,141 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 23,578 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises approximately 1.0% of Rathbones Group PLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Rathbones Group PLC owned 0.13% of Linde worth $259,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the second quarter valued at $25,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Saranac Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its position in Linde by 134.5% during the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 68 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of several analyst reports. DZ Bank downgraded Linde from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings raised Linde from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Erste Group Bank raised Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group increased their price target on Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Mizuho set a $525.00 price target on Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One research 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $540.00.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the business'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 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the business's 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 directly owned 22,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,643,729.02. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Up 0.1%

LIN opened at $506.63 on Thursday. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $521.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average of $498.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $461.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 3.18 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The company had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.95 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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, research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde's payout ratio is currently 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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