AMF Tjanstepension AB Increases Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 896,131 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,202 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for 2.4% of AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings in Linde were worth $382,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Saranac Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on LIN. Seaport Research Partners boosted their price objective on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $540.00.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $510.86 on Tuesday. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $497.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $459.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.20 billion, a PE ratio of 33.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.73. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $521.28.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 20.44%.The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.95 earnings per share. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,643,729.02. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $3,111,800.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.