Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Reduces Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 607,811 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 67,929 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises about 0.5% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.13% of Linde worth $259,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the second quarter worth $25,000. Triumph Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 69.2% during the fourth quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 66 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth $29,000. Saranac Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Strengthening Families & Communities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 134.5% during the fourth quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 68 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of LIN opened at $523.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $525.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $504.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $471.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $242.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.72.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.95 earnings per share. Linde’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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $560.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.