Lansdowne Partners UK LLP Boosts Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Lansdowne Partners UK LLP lifted its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 364,542 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 55,908 shares during the period. Linde comprises approximately 11.3% of Lansdowne Partners UK LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP owned approximately 0.08% of Linde worth $173,157,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,243,000. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd boosted its position in Linde by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 236,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $112,198,000 after buying an additional 73,850 shares during the period. National Pension Service boosted its position in Linde by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 967,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $459,570,000 after buying an additional 24,624 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 205,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $97,526,000 after acquiring an additional 22,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its holdings in Linde by 27.2% during the 2nd quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 417,001 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $195,649,000 after acquiring an additional 89,129 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on LIN. Mizuho set a $525.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. CICC Research began coverage on Linde in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.20.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $497.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.88. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $510.65. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $468.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $450.15. The company has a market capitalization of $230.49 billion, a PE ratio of 34.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.82.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.97 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,636,202.10. The trade was 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 90 days, insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.