NBC Securities Inc. Sells 8,914 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• NBC Securities cut its stake in Linde by 85.8% in Q4, selling 8,914 shares and retaining 1,481 shares worth about $631,000.
• Linde beat quarterly estimates (EPS $4.20 vs. $4.18; revenue $8.76B vs. $8.64B) and issued FY2026 guidance of 17.40–17.90 EPS, with analysts holding a consensus “Buy” and a $527.80 target.
• Dividend raised to $1.60 quarterly ($6.40 annual, ~1.3% yield), while insiders have sold roughly 20,332 shares (~$9.75M) over the past 90 days.

NBC Securities Inc. reduced its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 85.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,481 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 8,914 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings 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 worth $9,176,828,000 after acquiring an additional 172,162 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings 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 worth $4,431,639,000 after acquiring an additional 83,236 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings 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 worth $2,036,594,000 after acquiring an additional 242,733 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $1,850,137,000 after acquiring an additional 176,650 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 7.8% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,828,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,343,564,000 after acquiring an additional 204,636 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ LIN opened at $510.30 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $495.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $454.75. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $510.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $236.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.98, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.78.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business 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. Research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LIN. Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. DZ Bank downgraded Linde from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Linde from $545.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $455.00 to $525.00 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $527.80.

About Linde

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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