Chesapeake Capital Corp IL Acquires New Shares in Linde PLC $LIN

Chesapeake Capital Corp IL acquired a new position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,941 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $922,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,098,772,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 82.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,683,248 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $799,543,000 after purchasing an additional 760,954 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in Linde by 18.5% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,972,515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,394,198,000 after purchasing an additional 463,977 shares during the period. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. bought a new position in Linde during the second quarter valued at approximately $187,359,000. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its position in Linde by 48.7% during the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,131,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $530,617,000 after purchasing an additional 370,261 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $493.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.88 billion, a PE ratio of 33.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $467.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $450.49. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $510.65.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.97 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue 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. Equities research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total value of $2,094,802.03. Following 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price target on Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $515.20.

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.