Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Acquires 15,562 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 275,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 15,562 shares during the period. Linde comprises 1.7% of Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Linde worth $130,993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its stake in Linde by 195.2% in the third quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT increased its stake in shares of Linde by 87.8% during the 3rd quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 77 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $508.27 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $509.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $451.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $449.02. The company has a market capitalization of $237.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.84.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The company’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.97 EPS. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. DZ Bank cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.20.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,636,202.10. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.