New York Life Investment Management LLC Reduces Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

New York Life Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,088 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $32,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its stake in Linde by 195.2% during the 3rd quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT raised its stake in shares of Linde by 87.8% during the third quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 77 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on LIN. Citigroup raised their price objective on Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, CICC Research began coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.56.

Linde News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Linde this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat estimates: adjusted EPS $4.20 (vs. $4.18 consensus) and revenue $8.76B (+6% YoY), showing margin resilience and underlying demand. Businesswire: Linde Reports Full-Year and Fourth-Quarter 2025 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Full-year operating profit reported at $8.9B, indicating solid profitability for 2025. Gasworld: Linde reports full year operating profit of $8.9bn
• Positive Sentiment: Company cites record backlog and restructuring initiatives as drivers of steady growth and the 2026 outlook (EPS target $17.40–$17.90). MSN: Linde sees another year of steady growth as Q4 results beat forecasts
• Neutral Sentiment: Management set FY2026 EPS guidance at $17.40–$17.90 and Q1 at $4.20–$4.30 — roughly in line with consensus but tight to the low side of estimates, leaving little upside surprise potential. Linde FY2026 guidance (slide deck)
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan reaffirmed a “neutral” rating with a $455 price target (only modest upside from current levels), signaling limited near-term analyst-driven buy pressure. Benzinga: JPMorgan reaffirms neutral on Linde
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: shares fell after guidance was viewed as disappointing relative to expectations despite the earnings beat; coverage and headlines highlighted the guidance miss. Investing.com: Linde shares fall over 2% as 2026 guidance disappoints
• Negative Sentiment: Operational/headcount action: Linde announced engineering job cuts as it addresses supply-chain challenges — short-term disruption and execution risk that can worry investors. Gasworld: Linde cuts jobs in engineering

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $448.24 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $209.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.72, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50 day moving average of $431.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $447.50. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $486.38. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $8.76 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.97 EPS. 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, analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

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.