Vanguard Group Inc. Has $19.17 Billion Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Vanguard increased its stake in Linde to 44,953,116 shares (9.63%) by buying 354,800 shares in Q4, representing holdings worth $19.17 billion, and institutional investors now own 82.8% of the company.
• Linde beat quarterly estimates with $4.20 EPS (vs. $4.18 expected) and $8.76B revenue, provided FY 2026 guidance of 17.40–17.90 EPS, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.60 (annualized $6.40, yield 1.3%).
• Several brokerages have upgraded Linde and boosted price targets—analysts' consensus rating is "Buy" with an average target around $527.80.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,953,116 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 354,800 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.63% of Linde worth $19,167,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the second quarter worth $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth $27,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth $29,000. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its position in shares of Linde by 195.2% in the third quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $510.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $236.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.98, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $495.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $454.75. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $510.65.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. Linde's revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.97 EPS. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th were 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 was Wednesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Linde's payout ratio is presently 43.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of Linde 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 approximately $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total transaction of $2,094,802.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,643,729.02. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257 in the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LIN. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $512.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $455.00 to $525.00 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $530.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners boosted their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $527.80.

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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