Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Capital World Investors

Capital World Investors trimmed its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 85.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,520,692 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,031,735 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors owned approximately 0.33% of Linde worth $648,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,127,594 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,318,325,000 after acquiring an additional 797,866 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Sarl grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 95,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,661,000 after acquiring an additional 4,008 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 51,588 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,997,000 after acquiring an additional 2,992 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,245,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Havemeyer Place LP acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $305,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total value 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 $10,643,729.02. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LIN. Citigroup lifted their target price on Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $560.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. DZ Bank downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $541.91.

Linde Price Performance

LIN opened at $507.90 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $234.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.73, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.72. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $521.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $503.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $468.37.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 20.44%.The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. Analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde’s payout ratio 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.