Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) EVP Sean Durbin Sells 6,520 Shares

Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN traded up $8.79 on Thursday, hitting $490.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,920,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,669,657. The company has a market capitalization of $227.22 billion, a PE ratio of 33.61, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.82. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $510.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $465.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $450.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share 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 last year, the firm posted $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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $508.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 10,454.4% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,424,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,033,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401,894 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in Linde by 42,539.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,321,809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318,709 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Linde by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,245,255,000 after buying an additional 1,275,477 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Linde by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,941,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,680,710,000 after buying an additional 1,130,001 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.