World Investment Advisors Raises Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

World Investment Advisors increased its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 38.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,829 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,073 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Linde were worth $1,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 10,454.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Linde by 42,539.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,321,809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318,709 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Linde by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,245,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,477 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased 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 valued at $1,680,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,001 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $512.15 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $236.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $506.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $475.27. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $525.87.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued 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 return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 20.44%.The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners raised their price target on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $541.91.

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.