Guardian Partners Inc. Reduces Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Guardian Partners Inc. lowered its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 38.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,918 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,175 shares during the quarter. Guardian Partners Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 14.1% during the 4th 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 increased its holdings in Linde by 19.8% during the 2nd 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. raised its position in shares of Linde by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 897 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $455.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,636,202.10. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $484.74 on Friday. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $510.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $224.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $461.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $450.11.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business 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 research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

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.