Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 707,961 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,680 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.15% of Linde worth $336,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,098,772,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 82.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,683,248 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $799,543,000 after acquiring an additional 760,954 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in Linde by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,972,515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,394,198,000 after purchasing an additional 463,977 shares in the last quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the second quarter valued at approximately $187,359,000. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its stake in Linde by 48.7% during the 2nd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,131,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $530,617,000 after purchasing an additional 370,261 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,636,202.10. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $484.74 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $461.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $449.88. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $510.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The business had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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, equities research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 41.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LIN. CICC Research assumed coverage on Linde in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on Linde from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average 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.