Park National Corp OH Sells 7,863 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Park National Corp OH reduced its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 31.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,852 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,863 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Linde were worth $7,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the third quarter worth about $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership increased its stake in Linde by 195.2% during the third quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new stake in Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Saranac Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $489.80 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $510.65. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $472.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $450.80. The company has a market cap of $226.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.57, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.82. 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 earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.97 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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 anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. DZ Bank downgraded Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, CICC Research started coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $515.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,643,729.02. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.