HB Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

HB Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,714 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $7,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,401,894 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $453,274,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $260,822,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Linde by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,124,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $910,129,000 after acquiring an additional 544,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $206,747,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on LIN. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $545.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $521.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, 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 sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,636,202.10. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total transaction of $3,111,800.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $508.06 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. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $510.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $494.58 and its 200 day moving average is $454.57. The company has a market cap of $235.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.82, a PEG ratio of 3.12 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, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The company had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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, equities research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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