Barings LLC Decreases Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Barings LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 66.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 19,397 shares during the quarter. Barings LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 10,454.4% during 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 buying an additional 2,401,894 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Linde by 20.1% during 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 buying an additional 1,275,477 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Linde by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,941,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,680,710,000 after buying an additional 1,130,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $453,274,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 1.2%

LIN stock opened at $515.44 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $504.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $471.14. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $522.89. The company has a market cap of $238.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 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 (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.95 EPS. Linde’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. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Seaport Research Partners boosted their target price on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. One investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $541.91.

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.