Strategic Blueprint LLC Has $218,000 Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Strategic Blueprint LLC cut its stake in Linde by 83.3% in Q4 and now owns 511 shares valued at about $218,000.
• Linde topped Q1 estimates (EPS $4.33 vs. $4.27; revenue $8.78B), raised its quarterly dividend to $1.60 ($6.40 annual, 1.3% yield), and set FY2026 guidance of $17.60–$17.90, a midpoint slightly below Street expectations.
• Insiders sold about 20,332 shares worth roughly $9.75M last quarter, while institutional investors own approximately 82.8% of the stock.

Strategic Blueprint LLC lowered its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 83.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 511 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,553 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Saranac Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $507.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $235.37 billion, a PE ratio of 34.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.78. Linde PLC has a one year low of $387.78 and a one year high of $521.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company's fifty day moving average price is $496.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $456.09.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $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, analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Linde from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Linde from $545.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $527.80.

Key Stories Impacting Linde

Here are the key news stories impacting Linde this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results topped expectations — adjusted EPS $4.33 vs. $4.27 consensus and revenue $8.78B (up ~8% YoY); management cited pricing and project start‑ups as growth drivers. Business Wire: Linde Reports First-Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Company raised its dividend alongside the quarter, a shareholder‑friendly move that supports income and signals confidence in cash flow. Zacks: Linde Q1 Earnings Beat, Dividend Raised
• Positive Sentiment: Profitability remains strong — net margin (~20.3%) and ROE (~19.5%) indicate healthy cash conversion and operational leverage that support valuations. MarketBeat: Linde Q1 Summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Q2 guidance given at $4.40–$4.50 is essentially in line with the Street (consensus ~4.45), so near‑term guidance doesn’t materially surprise investors either way. Seeking Alpha: Q1 Results Presentation
• Neutral Sentiment: Management hosted an earnings call and published the slide deck/transcript — useful for assessing segment dynamics (industrial gases, projects) but no new strategic shifts announced. Seeking Alpha: Q1 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: FY 2026 guidance set to $17.60–$17.90 has a midpoint slightly below the current consensus (~17.83), which could be viewed as a modest disappointment if investors expected an upward revision. Zacks: What Key Metrics Say

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other Linde news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,636,202.10. This represents a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Linde Company 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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