Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 227,708 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,057 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $108,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the third quarter valued at $4,243,000. National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 2.6% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 967,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $459,570,000 after buying an additional 24,624 shares during the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 45.5% during the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 236,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $112,198,000 after buying an additional 73,850 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 12.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 205,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $97,526,000 after buying an additional 22,489 shares during the period. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 27.2% during the second quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 417,001 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $195,649,000 after buying an additional 89,129 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Linde stock opened at $493.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $228.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.82. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $387.78 and a 52-week high of $510.65. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $467.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $450.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday. CICC Research assumed coverage on Linde in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho set a $525.00 target price on Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $515.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the company’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 directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,643,729.02. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.