Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC lessened its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,801 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,770 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $10,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 3.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,344,181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,558,016,000 after acquiring an additional 719,052 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in Linde by 13.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 3,162,409 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,567,796,000 after acquiring an additional 373,012 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Linde by 2.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,740,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,358,712,000 after acquiring an additional 64,078 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Linde by 28.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,624,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $805,475,000 after purchasing an additional 361,664 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in Linde by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,370,361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $679,370,000 after purchasing an additional 85,360 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $508.83 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $480.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $498.37. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $548.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.87, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.49 by $0.01. Linde had a return on equity of 20.09% and a net margin of 20.43%. The business had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.700-17.900 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 4.450-4.550 EPS. Analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 41.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $542.00 price target on the stock. DZ Bank reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Linde from $553.00 to $549.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $535.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $580.00 target price on shares of Linde and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $547.10.

About Linde

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It produces and distributes atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and specialty gases. The company serves customers through packaged gases, bulk deliveries, on-site production and pipeline systems.

Linde’s products and services support a broad range of industries, including healthcare, food and beverage, manufacturing, chemicals, energy, refining, electronics and metals.