Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 13,153 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 214,961 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,153 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Linde were worth $102,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Linde by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,638,847 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,943,654,000 after buying an additional 292,492 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Linde in the second quarter worth $3,098,772,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.8% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,044,833 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,897,755,000 after acquiring an additional 185,294 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Linde by 0.7% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,718,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,744,588,000 after purchasing an additional 24,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,605,118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,690,961,000 after purchasing an additional 40,216 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $498.51 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $510.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $232.78 billion, a PE ratio of 34.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $452.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $449.36.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 43.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,636,202.10. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. DZ Bank cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $516.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, CICC Research started coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $508.20.

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.