ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 132,842 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

ProShare Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 949,228 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 132,842 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up approximately 0.9% of ProShare Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $450,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Linde News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Linde this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat estimates: adjusted EPS $4.20 (vs. $4.18 consensus) and revenue $8.76B (+6% YoY), showing margin resilience and underlying demand. Businesswire: Linde Reports Full-Year and Fourth-Quarter 2025 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Full-year operating profit reported at $8.9B, indicating solid profitability for 2025. Gasworld: Linde reports full year operating profit of $8.9bn
• Positive Sentiment: Company cites record backlog and restructuring initiatives as drivers of steady growth and the 2026 outlook (EPS target $17.40–$17.90). MSN: Linde sees another year of steady growth as Q4 results beat forecasts
• Neutral Sentiment: Management set FY2026 EPS guidance at $17.40–$17.90 and Q1 at $4.20–$4.30 — roughly in line with consensus but tight to the low side of estimates, leaving little upside surprise potential. Linde FY2026 guidance (slide deck)
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan reaffirmed a “neutral” rating with a $455 price target (only modest upside from current levels), signaling limited near-term analyst-driven buy pressure. Benzinga: JPMorgan reaffirms neutral on Linde
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: shares fell after guidance was viewed as disappointing relative to expectations despite the earnings beat; coverage and headlines highlighted the guidance miss. Investing.com: Linde shares fall over 2% as 2026 guidance disappoints
• Negative Sentiment: Operational/headcount action: Linde announced engineering job cuts as it addresses supply-chain challenges — short-term disruption and execution risk that can worry investors. Gasworld: Linde cuts jobs in engineering

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $455.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Linde from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $513.56.

Linde Stock Down 2.5%

NASDAQ LIN opened at $448.24 on Monday. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $486.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $209.31 billion, a PE ratio of 30.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $431.09 and its 200 day moving average is $447.50.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $8.76 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm 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. Research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.