Linde PLC $LIN Shares Acquired by China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Linde were worth $6,450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mendel Money Management lifted its position in shares of Linde by 3.5% in the third quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 10,794 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,127,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 660 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 4,078 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,937,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Burling Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. Burling Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,034 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,816,000 after purchasing an additional 1,603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.8% during the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 500,846 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $237,902,000 after buying an additional 13,460 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. DZ Bank lowered 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. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $516.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $508.20.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock opened at $490.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $228.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.84. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $490.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $444.54 and its 200-day moving average is $448.28.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for 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%. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.97 earnings per share. 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 analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total transaction of $4,542,654.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,636,202.10. This represents a 29.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.