Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO Purchases New Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO purchased a new stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,609 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,965,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Embree Financial Group boosted its position in Linde by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 469 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Binnacle Investments Inc increased its holdings in Linde by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its holdings in Linde by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 8,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,071,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA raised its position 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 valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total transaction of $2,094,802.03. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,643,729.02. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of Linde 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 in the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $502.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $232.90 billion, a PE ratio of 34.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $483.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $451.98. 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 PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $510.65.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $455.00 to $525.00 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $515.20.

Linde 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.