Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Sells 2,798 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Canandaigua National Bank & Trust cut its stake in Linde by 44.7%, selling 2,798 shares and leaving it with 3,458 shares valued at about $1.47 million at quarter-end.
• Other institutional moves were mixed but significant—most notably Flossbach Von Storch added 363,900 shares to reach 1,085,859 shares (~$463.0M); institutional ownership of Linde stands at 82.8%.
• Wall Street sentiment is bullish with a consensus "Buy" rating and a $527.80 average target (RBC raised its target to $552); Linde trades near $501 and recently declared a $1.60 quarterly dividend ($6.40 annual, ~1.3% yield).

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. cut its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 44.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,458 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,798 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Linde were worth $1,474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Archer Investment Corp lifted its position in Linde by 46.8% in the 4th quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 1,809 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its position in Linde by 2.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in Linde by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 145,880 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $62,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,022 shares in the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. lifted its position in Linde by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 760 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its position in Linde by 50.4% in the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 1,085,859 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $462,999,000 after acquiring an additional 363,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Linde from $512.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Linde from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $530.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $527.80.

Linde Stock Down 0.7%

LIN opened at $501.14 on Friday. 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's 50-day moving average is $496.93 and its 200 day moving average is $456.09. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $515.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $232.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.35, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.78.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) 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. 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 last year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. The firm's 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 expect that Linde PLC will post 17.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related 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 transaction of $4,542,654.75. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,636,202.10. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were 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 $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. Insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 over the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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