Xponance Inc. Sells 3,696 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Xponance Inc. lowered its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,845 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,696 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $34,126,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $4,243,000. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Linde by 2.6% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 967,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $459,570,000 after purchasing an additional 24,624 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Linde by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 205,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $97,526,000 after buying an additional 22,489 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its position in Linde by 27.2% during the second quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 417,001 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $195,649,000 after acquiring an additional 89,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 14.0% during the third quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 44,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,366,000 after acquiring an additional 5,526 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total transaction of $4,542,654.75. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,636,202.10. This represents a 29.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Down 1.9%

NASDAQ LIN opened at $498.51 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $452.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $449.36. 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 firm has a market capitalization 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. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $510.65.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.97 EPS. The company’s revenue 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. On average, analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This is a boost 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 payout ratio is currently 43.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $516.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” 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 report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.20.

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.