KBC Group NV Has $290.99 Million Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 682,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 36,180 shares during the period. Linde accounts for approximately 0.7% of KBC Group NV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Linde were worth $290,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Linde in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its position in Linde by 195.2% during the 3rd quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $497.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $230.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.78. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $510.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $490.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $453.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.64 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.Linde’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.97 EPS. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 43.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $455.00 to $525.00 in a report on Friday, March 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $545.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Mizuho set a $525.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $521.60.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total transaction of $3,111,800.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total transaction of $2,094,802.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.