US Bancorp DE Sells 10,322 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

US Bancorp DE decreased its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 319,159 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 10,322 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Linde were worth $136,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. grew its position in shares of Linde by 90.8% during the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 1,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp lifted its holdings in Linde by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 1,809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank boosted its stake in Linde by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 3,001 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 145,880 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $62,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,022 shares during the period. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Linde by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $455.00 to $525.00 in a report on Friday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho set a $525.00 target price on Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $527.80.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total value of $2,094,802.03. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,643,729.02. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $504.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $233.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $496.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $455.77. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $515.63.

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 business had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last 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. Equities analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.87%.

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.