Confluence Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Confluence Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 297,323 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 12,488 shares during the period. Linde comprises about 1.9% of Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Linde worth $126,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. YANKCOM Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 195.2% in the third quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Linde from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $455.00 to $525.00 in a report on Friday, March 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.20.

Linde Stock Up 0.3%

LIN opened at $489.80 on Friday. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $510.65. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $472.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $450.80. The stock has a market cap of $226.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.57, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.82. 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 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 quarter last year, the business posted $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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This is a boost 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 is presently 43.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,636,202.10. This represents a 29.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.