KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Has $75.96 Million Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 178,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,060 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Linde were worth $75,955,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LIN. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 10,454.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,424,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,033,940,000 after acquiring an additional 2,401,894 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $453,274,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $260,822,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Linde by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,124,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $910,129,000 after buying an additional 544,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $206,747,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

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 transaction of $2,094,802.03. Following the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,643,729.02. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 in the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $455.00 to $525.00 in a report on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. DZ Bank lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners raised their target price on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $521.60.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $494.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $493.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $453.91. 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 PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $510.65.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The company had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.97 EPS. Linde’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

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.