Advisors Capital Management LLC Decreases Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Advisors Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,244 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,949 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $19,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership raised its position in shares of 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 shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Saranac Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. DZ Bank cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $527.80.

Linde Stock Up 0.4%

LIN opened at $510.30 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $510.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $236.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $495.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $454.75.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.97 EPS. The firm’s 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, research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.81 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of Linde stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total value of $4,542,654.75. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,636,202.10. This trade represents a 29.93% 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 worth $9,749,257. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.