IFM Investors Pty Ltd Takes $39.88 Million Position in Linde PLC $LIN

IFM Investors Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 93,538 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,884,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Linde by 10,454.4% in 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 period. Capital International Investors increased its position in Linde by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,245,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,477 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Linde by 40.2% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,941,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,680,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130,001 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $453,274,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $515.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business’s 50 day moving average is $504.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $471.14. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $522.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $238.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.23, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 42.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $560.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Seaport Research Partners boosted their price target on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $541.91.

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.