Waverton Investment Management Ltd Sells 28,447 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Waverton Investment Management Ltd cut its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 54.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,680 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 28,447 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Linde were worth $11,247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 5,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,479,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its holdings in Linde by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 8,947 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,250,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the period. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth $2,845,000. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 17.0% in the third quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,090 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 32.5% in the third quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 697 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $516.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, DZ Bank lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.20.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total value of $4,542,654.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,636,202.10. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $508.08 on Monday. 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 PLC has a 52-week low of $387.78 and a 52-week high of $510.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $454.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $449.27. The company has a market capitalization of $235.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.84.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion during 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $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. Research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.87%.

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.