Linde PLC $LIN Shares Bought by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its Linde stake 28.7% in Q4, adding 2,294 shares to hold 10,278 shares worth about $4.383 million, and institutional investors collectively own roughly 82.8% of the company.
• Research firms have been raising ratings and targets on LIN—JPMorgan upgraded to "overweight" and UBS raised its target to $579—leaving an average analyst target of $527.80 and a consensus rating of "Buy."
• Linde beat Q4 EPS estimates ($4.20 vs. $4.18), set FY2026 guidance of 17.400–17.900 EPS, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.60 (annualized $6.40, ~1.3% yield).

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 28.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,278 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,294 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $4,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Linde by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,953,116 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $19,167,559,000 after acquiring an additional 354,800 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,319,583 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,176,828,000 after purchasing an additional 172,162 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,329,728 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,431,639,000 after purchasing an additional 83,236 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 6.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,287,566 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,036,594,000 after purchasing an additional 242,733 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 4.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,895,026 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,850,137,000 after purchasing an additional 176,650 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. Mizuho set a $525.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $455.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Linde from $512.00 to $552.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $527.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,636,202.10. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 over the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ LIN opened at $510.75 on Tuesday. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $512.96. 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 has a market capitalization of $236.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.78. The company's fifty day moving average price is $495.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $455.03.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.97 EPS. The firm's revenue 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. As a group, research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. 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 43.87%.

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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