Maren Capital LLC Raises Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Maren Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 35.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 364,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 94,996 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises 8.4% of Maren Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Maren Capital LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Linde worth $155,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 10,454.4% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 2,401,894 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Linde by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,245,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,477 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Linde by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,941,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,680,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,001 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $453,274,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $560.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $541.91.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $523.57 on Monday. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $525.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $242.07 billion, a PE ratio of 34.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $504.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $471.96.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.95 earnings per share. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

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.