Linde PLC $LIN Shares Acquired by Ayrshire Capital Management LLC

Ayrshire Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,021 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,353 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises approximately 2.9% of Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $6,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its stake in Linde by 195.2% during the 3rd quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Saranac Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $545.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price target on Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $521.60.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $494.62 on Thursday. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $510.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $493.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $454.20. The company has a market cap of $229.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.78. 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 released its 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 return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The company had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.97 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. Research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,643,729.02. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 over the last 90 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.