Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 4,763 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 63,547 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 4,763 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $30,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth about $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership raised its position in shares of Linde by 195.2% during the third 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. DZ Bank cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Erste Group Bank raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.20.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $490.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $460.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $450.27. The company has a market cap of $227.09 billion, a PE ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.82. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $510.65.

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 during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company 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. On average, analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.12%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total value of $4,542,654.75. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,636,202.10. This represents a 29.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.