FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Cuts Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH cut its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 71.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,315 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Linde were worth $228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 19.8% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Linde by 19.3% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 897 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 3.2% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 5,625 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,639,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of Linde 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,643,729.02. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $510.30 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $236.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.88. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $510.65. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $495.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $454.66.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 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 analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $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, equities analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LIN shares. Mizuho set a $525.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $545.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $512.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $527.80.

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.