Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 61,935 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 879,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,935 shares during the quarter. Linde makes up about 0.6% of Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.19% of Linde worth $417,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Linde in the third quarter worth about $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its holdings in Linde by 195.2% in the third quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Linde in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LIN shares. Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. CICC Research started coverage on Linde in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Linde from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $508.20.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $484.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $224.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $461.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $450.11. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $510.65.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 41.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total value of $4,542,654.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,636,202.10. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Linde

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.