Savant Capital LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 16.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,486 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Linde during the second quarter valued at $3,098,772,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 82.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,683,248 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $799,543,000 after buying an additional 760,954 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in shares of Linde by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,972,515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,394,198,000 after buying an additional 463,977 shares in the last quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at about $187,359,000. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its position in Linde by 48.7% in the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,131,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $530,617,000 after acquiring an additional 370,261 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Linde this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results topped estimates: adjusted EPS $4.20 (vs. $4.18 consensus) and revenue rose ~6% to $8.76B, driven by higher Americas pricing and volumes — shows underlying demand and margin resilience. Linde Reports Full-Year and Fourth-Quarter 2025 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Strong full-year operating profit ($8.9B) and a record backlog underpin medium-term revenue visibility and support Linde’s investment plans. Linde reports full year operating profit of $8.9bn
• Neutral Sentiment: 2026 guidance set at $17.40–$17.90 EPS (consensus ~$17.83) and Q1 at $4.20–$4.30 (consensus ~$4.24) — broadly in line but leaves little upside vs. expectations; management cites restructuring and backlog as drivers. Linde targets $17.40–$17.90 EPS for 2026 as restructuring and record backlog drive outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction negative: shares fell after investors flagged guidance as underwhelming relative to the beat — sentiment pressured by the guidance midpoint and limited upside. Linde shares fall over 2% as 2026 guidance disappoints despite earnings beat
• Negative Sentiment: Management announced engineering job cuts as part of restructuring to control costs — could reduce near-term execution risk but raises execution and sentiment concerns. Linde cuts jobs in engineering but confident it can weather supply chain challenges
• Negative Sentiment: Some sell-side commentary remains cautious (maintained restrictive/sell ratings or trimmed price targets), amplifying downside pressure despite the beat. Shares of industrial gas giant sink on guidance — why we’re keeping our 1 rating

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. CICC Research assumed coverage on Linde in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $516.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $501.75.

Linde Stock Down 2.9%

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $459.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $214.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.84. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $486.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $430.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $447.98.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. Analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

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.