Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 54.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,019 shares during the quarter. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $2,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Linde in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,098,772,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Linde by 82.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,683,248 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $799,543,000 after buying an additional 760,954 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in shares of Linde by 18.5% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,972,515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,394,198,000 after purchasing an additional 463,977 shares in the last quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new position in Linde during the second quarter valued at $187,359,000. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 48.7% in the 2nd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,131,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $530,617,000 after purchasing an additional 370,261 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Linde Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ LIN opened at $483.62 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $224.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $462.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $449.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.88. Linde PLC has a one year low of $387.78 and a one year high of $510.65.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.97 earnings per share. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. CICC Research assumed coverage on Linde in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 target price on the stock. DZ Bank lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Mizuho set a $525.00 target price on Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.20.

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.