Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Buys 10,827 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 116,510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 10,827 shares during the quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Linde were worth $55,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,319,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,176,828,000 after acquiring an additional 172,162 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Linde by 0.9% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,329,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,431,639,000 after acquiring an additional 83,236 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Linde in the second quarter valued at $3,098,772,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Linde by 6.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,287,566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,036,594,000 after purchasing an additional 242,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Linde by 4.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,895,026 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,850,137,000 after purchasing an additional 176,650 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,643,729.02. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their position. 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Linde from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $455.00 to $525.00 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 price target on the stock. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $515.20.

Linde Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $488.57 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $471.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $450.53. 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.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The company had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.97 EPS. Linde’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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

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.