Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA Trims Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Spectrum Asset Management cut its stake in Linde PLC by 45.1% in Q4, selling 3,876 shares and retaining 4,714 shares valued at about $2.01 million.
• Wall Street consensus is a Buy on Linde with an average price target of $521.60, and several firms recently raised ratings/targets (JPMorgan to Overweight/$525, Morgan Stanley target $530).
• Linde beat Q results (EPS $4.20 vs. $4.18 est.; revenue $8.76B, +6.3% YoY), set Q1 2026 guidance of 4.20–4.30 EPS and FY2026 guidance of 17.40–17.90, and increased its quarterly dividend to $1.60 ($6.40 annual, ~1.3% yield).

Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA cut its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 45.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,714 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,876 shares during the period. Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA's holdings in Linde were worth $2,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Embree Financial Group raised its stake in Linde by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 469 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc raised its stake in Linde by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 237 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in Linde by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 8,571 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,071,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA raised its stake in Linde by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA now owns 711 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mayport LLC raised its stake in Linde by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Mayport LLC now owns 504 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the subject of several analyst reports. DZ Bank downgraded 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Linde from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $455.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings raised Linde from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Erste Group Bank raised Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $530.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $521.60.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $499.63 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $231.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $489.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $453.01. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $510.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share (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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,643,729.02. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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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