Linde PLC $LIN Stake Lessened by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV decreased its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 512,992 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 61,016 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for 1.3% of ING Groep NV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Linde were worth $243,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Markel Group Inc. lifted its stake in Linde by 3.1% during the second quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 186,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $87,549,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in Linde by 2.6% in the third 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 last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 12.3% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 205,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $97,526,000 after buying an additional 22,489 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its position in shares of Linde by 27.2% during the 2nd quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 417,001 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $195,649,000 after acquiring an additional 89,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 44,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,366,000 after acquiring an additional 5,526 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $516.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on Linde in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.20.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN stock opened at $460.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $433.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $447.31. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $486.38. The stock has a market cap of $215.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.84. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.97 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 fiscal year.

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.