Auto Owners Insurance Co Purchases 1,318,709 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 42,539.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,321,809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,318,709 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co’s holdings in Linde were worth $56,361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Linde by 10,454.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,424,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,033,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401,894 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,275,477 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Linde by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,941,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,680,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Linde by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,402,317 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,303,494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,751 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $512.15 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.01, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Linde PLC has a one year low of $387.78 and a one year high of $525.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $506.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $475.27.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. One research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $541.91.

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.