Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Increases Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 51.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 196,087 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,260 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Linde were worth $97,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Linde by 217.5% in the first quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,582 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,221,000 after acquiring an additional 11,360 shares in the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. boosted its position in shares of Linde by 24.6% during the 1st quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. now owns 19,498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,666,000 after purchasing an additional 3,855 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in shares of Linde by 319.7% during the 1st quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 63,141 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,303,000 after purchasing an additional 48,097 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in shares of Linde by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 43,696 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,663,000 after purchasing an additional 2,295 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Investors Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Linde by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp now owns 24,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,365,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, May 4th. 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 reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $560.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $543.27.

Linde Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $546.64 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $510.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $483.39. The company has a market capitalization of $252.74 billion, a PE ratio of 36.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.72. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $547.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.95 EPS. The company’s 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were 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 was Thursday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 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.