PFG Advisors Trims Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• PFG Advisors cut its stake in Linde by 43.3% in Q4, selling 2,674 shares and leaving it with 3,500 shares valued at about $1.49 million.
• Several analysts raised ratings and price targets on Linde recently, leaving the stock with a consensus "Buy" rating and a consensus target price of $521.60.
• Linde raised its quarterly dividend to $1.60 (annualized $6.40, ~1.3% yield), while insiders have sold 20,332 shares (~$9.75 million) over the past 90 days, with insiders owning 0.70% of the stock.

PFG Advisors lowered its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 43.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,674 shares during the quarter. PFG Advisors' holdings in Linde were worth $1,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its stake in Linde by 195.2% in the 3rd quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Linde from $545.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Seaport Research Partners boosted their price target on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $530.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $455.00 to $525.00 in a report on Friday, March 13th. One equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $521.60.

Linde Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of LIN opened at $494.62 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $229.20 billion, a PE ratio of 33.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $493.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $454.20. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $510.65.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $8.76 billion during 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.97 EPS. 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, analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.8 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Linde's payout ratio is currently 43.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,643,729.02. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total value of $3,111,800.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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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