Linde PLC $LIN Shares Acquired by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Key Points

• Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 4,307 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 34,622 shares worth about $14.8 million.
• Wall Street remains bullish on Linde, with analysts assigning an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $540, while some firms recently raised targets to $575.
• Linde reported solid quarterly results, posting EPS of $4.33 on revenue of $8.78 billion, both above expectations, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,622 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,307 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $14,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Saranac Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Seaport Research Partners upped their price target 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. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Linde from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $540.00.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock opened at $493.16 on Friday. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $521.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $496.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $457.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.01 billion, a PE ratio of 32.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.73.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.95 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is 42.50%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,636,202.10. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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