Pitcairn Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Pitcairn Co. cut its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,478 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,192 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 22.8% during the third quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 582 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.3% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 23,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,267,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in Linde by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 33,859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,083,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors grew its position in Linde by 449.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 11,109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,277,000 after buying an additional 9,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient IA LLC increased its stake in Linde by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Corient IA LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $484.74 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $461.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $450.32. The company has a market capitalization of $224.62 billion, a PE ratio of 33.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.82.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The company had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.20.

About Linde

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.