Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lessened its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 24.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,309 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,095 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.5% in the second quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 508 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of Linde by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Embree Financial Group raised 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 worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in shares of Linde by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 8,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,071,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA lifted its stake in Linde by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA now owns 711 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $502.60 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $483.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $452.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization 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. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $510.65.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.64 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The business’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. 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, analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. 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. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 43.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on LIN. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $455.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Friday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho set a $525.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total transaction of $2,094,802.03. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,643,729.02. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $3,111,800.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257 in the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.