BLB&B Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

BLB&B Advisors LLC lowered its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,966 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,452 shares during the period. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $8,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the second quarter worth $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership increased its position 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 buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Saranac Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total transaction of $3,111,800.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of Linde 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,643,729.02. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Down 1.8%

LIN opened at $499.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $231.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $489.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $453.01. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, DZ Bank cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. One research analyst has 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, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $521.60.

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.