19,653 Shares in Linde PLC $LIN Bought by HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 19,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,335,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Linde by 55.7% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 455,694 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $216,455,000 after purchasing an additional 162,968 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Linde by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,287,566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,036,594,000 after purchasing an additional 242,733 shares during the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory raised its position in shares of Linde by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Linde by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 440,666 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $209,335,000 after buying an additional 6,966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 2,252.9% in the 3rd quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 136,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $64,812,000 after buying an additional 130,648 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $490.41 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $227.25 billion, a PE ratio of 33.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $510.65. The company has a 50-day moving average of $466.34 and a 200 day moving average of $450.38.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The business’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total value of $3,111,800.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total value of $4,542,654.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,636,202.10. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. CICC Research began coverage on Linde in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $508.20.

Linde Company 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.