Magnetar Financial LLC Invests $7.85 Million in Linde PLC $LIN

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 16,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,846,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 4.5% in the second quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 508 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Embree Financial Group grew its stake in Linde by 4.9% during the third quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 469 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Binnacle Investments Inc grew its stake in Linde by 10.2% during the second quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in shares of Linde by 0.3% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 8,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,071,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its position in shares of Linde by 24.5% in the third quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 122 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $455.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $508.20.

Linde Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $477.94 on Wednesday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $463.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $449.88. The firm has a market cap of $221.47 billion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.82. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $510.65.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 41.12%.

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.