Primecap Management Co. CA Buys 15,000 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 538,920 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Linde were worth $255,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter worth $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership grew its position in Linde by 195.2% during the 3rd quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT increased its holdings in Linde by 87.8% in the 3rd quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 77 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on Linde from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $508.20.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total transaction of $4,542,654.75. Following the completion of the sale, 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 is available at the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $508.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.88. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $509.62. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $451.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $449.02. The company has a market capitalization of $237.34 billion, a PE ratio of 34.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.84.

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. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The company had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.97 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue 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. Research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.12%.

Linde Company 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.