Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management trimmed its stake in Linde PLC by 2.9% to 228,951 shares (worth $97.62 million), making Linde about 1.3% of the firm's holdings and its 21st largest position.
• Company insiders have been selling recently — executives sold a total of 20,332 shares (~$9.75 million) over the last 90 days (insider ownership now ~0.70%), including notable sales by EVP Sean Durbin and VP Guillermo Bichara.
• Linde raised its quarterly dividend to $1.60 (annualized $6.40, ~1.3% yield), reported Q4 EPS of $4.20 beating estimates, and set FY2026 guidance of $17.40–$17.90 per share amid a consensus analyst rating of "Buy."

Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 228,951 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 6,928 shares during the period. Linde makes up about 1.3% of Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $97,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 27,341 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $11,658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares during the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd increased its stake in shares of Linde by 45.5% in the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 236,206 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $112,198,000 after purchasing an additional 73,850 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,243,000. National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Linde by 2.6% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 967,516 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $459,570,000 after purchasing an additional 24,624 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 12.3% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 205,318 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $97,526,000 after acquiring an additional 22,489 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total value of $3,111,800.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total transaction of $4,542,654.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,636,202.10. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 over the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of LIN opened at $503.15 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $487.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $452.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.88. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $387.78 and a 52-week high of $510.65. The company has a market cap of $233.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.78.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 earned $3.97 earnings per share. Linde'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. Analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Linde from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $530.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has 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 MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $518.10.

Key Linde News

Here are the key news stories impacting Linde this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $579 and reiterated a Buy rating, implying ~15% upside versus the current share level; this is constructive for longer-term investor sentiment and may support buying interest. Linde Given New $579.00 Price Target at UBS Group
• Neutral Sentiment: Research notes on FY2027 earnings expectations were published (analyst estimates can guide modeling and market expectations but no single clear revision was highlighted in the release). Investors should watch if these notes change consensus versus company guidance. Research Analysts Set Expectations for Linde FY2027 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Several sports outlets ran stories about South African cricketer George Linde joining an IPL team — unrelated to Linde PLC but likely generating noisy search/mention volume that can confuse retail flows. This has no fundamental impact on the industrial gases & engineering business. George Linde set to replace Wanindu Hasaranga at LSG
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest jumped ~27% in March to ~7.08M shares (≈1.5% of shares outstanding) with a days-to-cover near 2.5 — a meaningful increase in bearish positioning that can add downward pressure or increase volatility if shorts scale or cover quickly. No company-specific catalyst was cited for the rise, so this appears driven by positioning/hedging.

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.

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