Holocene Advisors LP Raises Stock Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Holocene Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 151.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 265,796 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 160,000 shares during the quarter. Holocene Advisors LP owned approximately 0.06% of Linde worth $126,253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 0.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,638,847 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,943,654,000 after acquiring an additional 292,492 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,329,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,431,639,000 after purchasing an additional 83,236 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the second quarter worth about $3,098,772,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Linde by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,287,566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,036,594,000 after purchasing an additional 242,733 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Linde by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,895,026 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,850,137,000 after purchasing an additional 176,650 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. CICC Research started coverage on Linde in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. They set 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. DZ Bank lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total transaction of $4,542,654.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,636,202.10. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total transaction of $3,111,800.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.7%

Linde stock opened at $493.92 on Monday. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $510.65. The company has a market capitalization 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. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $467.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $450.04. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The company’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.97 earnings per share. 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 analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

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.