Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 30,077 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group trimmed its Linde position by 2.0%, selling 30,077 shares and now holds 1,480,034 shares (about 0.32% of the company) valued at roughly $631.07 million.
• Linde beat Q4 estimates with $4.20 EPS vs. $4.18 expected and $8.76B revenue (up 6.3% YoY), issued FY2026 guidance of $17.40–$17.90 EPS, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.60 ($6.40 annual, ~1.3% yield).
• Market and insider activity is mixed: insiders sold ~20,332 shares (~$9.75M) in the last 90 days and short interest rose ~27% to ~7.08M shares, while analysts overall maintain a "Buy" consensus with an average price target of $518.10 (UBS at $579).

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,480,034 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 30,077 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.32% of Linde worth $631,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Linde by 0.9% during the 3rd 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 raised its stake in Linde by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,329,728 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,431,639,000 after acquiring an additional 83,236 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Linde by 6.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,287,566 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,036,594,000 after purchasing an additional 242,733 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Linde by 4.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 176,650 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Linde by 1.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,605,118 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,690,961,000 after purchasing an additional 40,216 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $503.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.88. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $387.78 and a 52-week high of $510.65. The company has a fifty day moving average of $487.95 and a 200-day moving average of $452.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.78.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The company had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.97 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total value of $4,542,654.75. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the company'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 transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Trending Headlines about Linde

Here are the key news stories impacting Linde this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $579 and reiterated a Buy rating, implying ~15% upside versus the current share level; this is constructive for longer-term investor sentiment and may support buying interest. Linde Given New $579.00 Price Target at UBS Group
• Neutral Sentiment: Research notes on FY2027 earnings expectations were published (analyst estimates can guide modeling and market expectations but no single clear revision was highlighted in the release). Investors should watch if these notes change consensus versus company guidance. Research Analysts Set Expectations for Linde FY2027 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Several sports outlets ran stories about South African cricketer George Linde joining an IPL team — unrelated to Linde PLC but likely generating noisy search/mention volume that can confuse retail flows. This has no fundamental impact on the industrial gases & engineering business. George Linde set to replace Wanindu Hasaranga at LSG
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest jumped ~27% in March to ~7.08M shares (≈1.5% of shares outstanding) with a days-to-cover near 2.5 — a meaningful increase in bearish positioning that can add downward pressure or increase volatility if shorts scale or cover quickly. No company-specific catalyst was cited for the rise, so this appears driven by positioning/hedging.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Linde from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. DZ Bank cut shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $455.00 to $525.00 in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research 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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $518.10.

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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