Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Short Interest Update

Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 7,078,428 shares, an increase of 27.1% from the March 15th total of 5,569,079 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,835,464 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock traded down $1.18 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $496.76. The stock had a trading volume of 606,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,585,873. Linde has a one year low of $387.78 and a one year high of $510.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $490.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $453.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.08, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.78.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its 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. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 43.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. DZ Bank cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings raised Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised their price target on Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $455.00 to $525.00 in a report on Friday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $521.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total transaction of $3,111,800.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of Linde stock in a transaction 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 $10,636,202.10. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Embree Financial Group increased its stake in Linde by 4.9% during the third quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 469 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Blalock Williams LLC increased its stake in Linde by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Blalock Williams LLC now owns 510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its stake in Linde by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc increased its stake in Linde by 10.2% during the second quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in Linde by 0.3% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 8,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,071,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.