Linde PLC $LIN Shares Purchased by Aspire Private Capital LLC

Aspire Private Capital LLC raised its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 102.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,626 shares during the quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Linde by 0.9% during the third 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 period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 83,236 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Linde by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,287,566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,036,594,000 after purchasing an additional 242,733 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Linde by 4.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Linde by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,605,118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,690,961,000 after purchasing an additional 40,216 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total value of $3,111,800.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total value of $4,542,654.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,636,202.10. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 over the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. CICC Research started coverage on Linde in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Citigroup increased their target price on Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.20.

Linde Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $493.83 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $481.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $451.58. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $510.65. 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 company has a market capitalization of $228.84 billion, a PE ratio of 33.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.78.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.97 EPS. The company’s revenue 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 predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.