Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Forsta AP Fonden

Forsta AP Fonden reduced its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 100,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,260 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Linde were worth $42,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Blalock Williams LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Blalock Williams LLC now owns 510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of Linde by 10.2% in the second quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA boosted its position in shares of Linde by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA now owns 711 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mayport LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Mayport LLC now owns 504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Mizuho set a $525.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. DZ Bank cut 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, February 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $540.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ LIN opened at $497.69 on Friday. Linde PLC has a one year low of $387.78 and a one year high of $521.28. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $501.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $465.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.73.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.95 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.50%.

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.