Swedbank AB Acquires 19,782 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its stake in Linde by 1.8% in Q4, buying 19,782 shares to hold 1,144,802 shares (about 0.25% of the company) valued at roughly $488.13 million.
• Linde beat Q1 estimates with EPS $4.33 (vs. $4.27) and revenue $8.78B (vs. $8.60B), set FY2026 guidance of $17.60–17.90 EPS and Q2 guidance of 4.40–4.50 EPS, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.60 (annualized $6.40, ~1.3% yield).
• Sell-side sentiment is positive with a consensus "Buy" rating and an average target price of $540, alongside multiple recent price-target increases from firms including Citigroup and UBS.

Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,144,802 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 19,782 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.25% of Linde worth $488,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Linde during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Linde during the third quarter worth about $27,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in Linde during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Saranac Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Mizuho set a $525.00 price target on Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Linde from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $560.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $540.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total value of $2,094,802.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,643,729.02. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total value of $3,111,800.40. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $500.41 on Wednesday. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $497.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $456.41. The company has a market cap of $231.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.73. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $387.78 and a 52-week high of $521.28.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 20.44%.The company had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. 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.

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.