7,614,508 Shares in Linde PLC $LIN Bought by Norges Bank

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 7,614,508 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,246,750,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 27,341 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,243,000. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its holdings in Linde by 45.5% during the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 236,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $112,198,000 after buying an additional 73,850 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in Linde by 143.4% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 15,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,415,000 after buying an additional 8,863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 2.6% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 967,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $459,570,000 after buying an additional 24,624 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total transaction of $2,094,802.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,643,729.02. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of Linde 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LIN. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Seaport Research Partners raised their price target on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $540.00.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $497.69 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $521.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $230.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $501.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $465.31.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

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

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.