Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Bridges Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Bridges Investment Management reduced its Linde stake by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,160 shares and ending with 50,746 shares valued at about $21.6 million.
• Insider selling was also reported, with EVP Sean Durbin and VP Guillermo Bichara both selling shares on March 10, trimming their ownership positions significantly.
• Linde recently beat earnings and revenue expectations, reported 8.2% year-over-year revenue growth, and raised guidance for FY2026 and Q2 2026; the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share.

Bridges Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,746 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,160 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $21,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,953,116 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $19,167,559,000 after buying an additional 354,800 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Linde by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,319,583 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,176,828,000 after buying an additional 172,162 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Linde by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,353,011 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,820,533,000 after buying an additional 35,945 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Linde by 0.9% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 83,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,246,750,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total transaction of $3,111,800.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total value of $2,094,802.03. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,643,729.02. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN stock opened at $495.91 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $229.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $501.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $466.12. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $521.28.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.60 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.95 earnings per share. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LIN. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Linde from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Linde from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $541.91.

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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