Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Short Interest Update

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total value of $3,111,800.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257 in the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlueSky Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter worth $361,000. Genesis Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter worth $202,000. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 208.1% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 11,709 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,805,000 after buying an additional 7,909 shares during the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 25.9% in the 1st quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,897 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $940,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $95,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on LIN. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup upped their price target on Linde from $545.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Linde from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $455.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Friday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $521.60.

Linde Stock Down 0.2%

LIN traded down $1.18 during trading on Thursday, hitting $496.76. 606,556 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,585,873. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $490.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $453.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Linde has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $510.65. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.97 EPS. The company’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. Analysts predict that Linde will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were paid a $1.60 dividend. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.87%.

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.