PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• PNC Financial Services trimmed its Linde stake by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 27,502 shares and leaving it with 508,639 shares valued at about $216.9 million.
• Linde reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.33 versus estimates of $4.27 and revenue of $8.78 billion versus $8.60 billion expected. Revenue rose 8.2% year over year, and the company maintained upbeat FY 2026 and Q2 2026 guidance.
• The stock continues to draw bullish analyst support, with a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $540. Linde also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share, equal to a 1.3% annual yield.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 508,639 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 27,502 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Linde worth $216,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Linde by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 897 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 5,625 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,639,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $506.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $234.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $498.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $461.05. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $521.28.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 20.44%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.95 EPS. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is 42.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LIN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, May 4th. Seaport Research Partners increased their price objective on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. DZ Bank lowered Linde from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $540.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $3,111,800.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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