Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Moody National Bank Trust Division

Moody National Bank Trust Division decreased its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 34.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,346 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,727 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 508 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Embree Financial Group grew its position in shares of Linde by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 469 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc raised 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 period. Trust Co. of Vermont raised 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 period. Finally, Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA lifted its holdings in Linde by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA now owns 711 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,636,202.10. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total value of $3,111,800.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on LIN. CICC Research began coverage on Linde in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Erste Group Bank raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.20.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $492.34 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $228.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $475.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $450.96. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $510.65. 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 (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. Linde’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.97 EPS. 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 expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. Linde’s payout ratio 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.