William Blair Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 19.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 643,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 106,059 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up approximately 0.8% of William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 0.14% of Linde worth $274,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Saranac Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $517.58 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $521.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $499.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $462.12.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 20.44%.The business had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total transaction of $3,111,800.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total value of $2,094,802.03. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,643,729.02. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on LIN. UBS Group lifted their target price on Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $540.00.

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.