Main Street Research LLC Has $256,000 Stock Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Main Street Research LLC sharply reduced its Linde stake by 99.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 72,768 shares and leaving it with just 600 shares worth about $256,000.
• Linde recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $4.33 and revenue of $8.78 billion, while also raising guidance for fiscal 2026.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share to be paid June 18, and analysts currently have a Buy consensus with a price target of $540.

Main Street Research LLC decreased its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 99.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 600 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 72,768 shares during the quarter. Main Street Research LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $256,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 0.8% in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Linde by 0.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 83,236 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,287,566 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,036,594,000 after buying an additional 242,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,895,026 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,850,137,000 after buying an additional 176,650 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Linde

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

Linde Price Performance

LIN opened at $517.58 on Monday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $499.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $462.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.83. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $521.28. The firm has a market cap of $239.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.37, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.73.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.95 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue 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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DZ Bank cut shares of Linde from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $560.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Linde from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped 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 analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $540.00.

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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