Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Douglass Winthrop Advisors increased its stake by 2,252.9% in the third quarter and now owns 136,447 shares of Linde valued at about $64.81 million.
• Linde beat quarterly EPS estimates ($4.20 vs. $4.18), reported revenue up 6.3% year-over-year, set Q1 2026 guidance of 4.200–4.300 EPS and FY 2026 guidance of 17.400–17.900 EPS, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.60 (annualized $6.40, ~1.3% yield).
• Analysts are broadly positive with a consensus "Buy" rating and a $508.20 average target, while institutional investors own about 82.8% of the stock and the company has a market cap near $223.2 billion.

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2,252.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,447 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 130,648 shares during the quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $64,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Linde during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership raised its stake in Linde by 195.2% during the 3rd quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $481.55 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $223.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.82. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $510.65. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $465.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. Linde's payout ratio is 41.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total value of $4,542,654.75. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,636,202.10. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $530.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Mizuho set a $525.00 target price on Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. CICC Research assumed coverage on Linde in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $510.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $508.20.

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.

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