China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Linde were worth $6,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Linde by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its position in Linde by 19.3% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 897 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its stake in Linde by 10.8% in the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 30,281 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,207,000 after buying an additional 2,948 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LIN. DZ Bank cut shares of 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. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $516.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $455.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $508.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total transaction of $4,542,654.75. Following the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,636,202.10. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 1.0%

Linde stock opened at $490.11 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $444.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $448.28. The company has a market cap of $228.86 billion, a PE ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $490.55.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The business’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.