Ameriprise Financial Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Ameriprise Financial Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,499,368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 105,750 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.75% of Linde worth $1,662,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its stake in Linde by 195.2% in the third quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Linde in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at $32,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $493.92 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $467.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $450.27. The stock has a market cap of $228.88 billion, a PE ratio of 33.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.82. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.97 EPS. Linde’s quarterly 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. On average, equities analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on LIN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $455.00 to $525.00 in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $515.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total value of $2,094,802.03. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,643,729.02. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

About Linde

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.