Linde PLC $LIN is Windward Capital Management Co. CA's 8th Largest Position

Key Points

• Windward Capital reduced its stake in Linde by 3.7% in Q4 to 83,487 shares, making LIN its 8th largest holding worth about $35.6 million (2.8% of the fund's portfolio).
• Linde beat Q4 estimates with $4.20 EPS on $8.76 billion revenue, issued Q1 2026 guidance of $4.20–4.30 EPS and FY 2026 guidance of $17.40–17.90 EPS, and holds an analyst consensus rating of "Buy" with a $521.60 target.
• Dividend raised and insider selling: Linde increased its quarterly dividend to $1.60 ($6.40 annual, ~1.3% yield), while insiders sold roughly 20,332 shares (~$9.75 million) last quarter and now own 0.70% of the company.

Windward Capital Management Co. CA lowered its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 83,487 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,247 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for 2.8% of Windward Capital Management Co. CA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Windward Capital Management Co. CA's holdings in Linde were worth $35,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 27,341 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $11,658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares in the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd increased its holdings in Linde by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 236,206 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $112,198,000 after acquiring an additional 73,850 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,243,000. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Linde by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 967,516 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $459,570,000 after acquiring an additional 24,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 12.3% during the 3rd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. DZ Bank cut shares of Linde from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $530.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Mizuho set a $525.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $521.60.

Linde Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $508.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $235.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average of $494.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $454.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $387.78 and a 52-week high of $510.65.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The company's revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th were paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. Linde's payout ratio is 43.87%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,636,202.10. This represents a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of Linde 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, 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 valued at $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.

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