Korea Investment CORP Purchases 11,896 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Korea Investment CORP raised its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 356,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,896 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.08% of Linde worth $152,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Linde by 10,454.4% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,424,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,033,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401,894 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Linde by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,245,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,477 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Linde by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,941,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,680,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,001 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $453,274,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $523.57 on Friday. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $525.82. The stock has a market cap of $242.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.77, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $504.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $471.51.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LIN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Seaport Research Partners raised their target price on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Citigroup raised their target price on Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $541.91.

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.