Munro Partners Raises Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Munro Partners grew its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 43.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 62,074 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,935 shares during the period. Munro Partners’ holdings in Linde were worth $26,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 10,454.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,424,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,033,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401,894 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,245,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,477 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,941,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,680,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,001 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $453,274,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock opened at $521.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $241.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $525.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $505.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $472.76.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The company had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.95 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LIN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $560.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Seaport Research Partners boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $541.91.

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.