Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Sells 42,839 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH sold 42,839 shares of Linde, trimming its stake by 4.8% to 842,026 shares (about $359.8M), making Linde its 18th-largest holding.
• Brokerages have been upgrading Linde recently (including JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley), leaving a consensus rating of Buy with an average price target of $521.60.
• Linde raised its quarterly dividend to $1.60 ($6.40 annual, ~1.3% yield) and reported slightly-beating Q results ($4.20 EPS) while guiding FY2026 EPS to 17.40–17.90.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lessened its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 842,026 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 42,839 shares during the quarter. Linde comprises 0.6% of Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.18% of Linde worth $359,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 valued at $9,176,828,000 after acquiring an additional 172,162 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Linde by 0.9% during 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 last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Linde by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,287,566 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,036,594,000 after acquiring an additional 242,733 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Linde by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,895,026 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,850,137,000 after acquiring an additional 176,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Linde by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,828,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,343,564,000 after acquiring an additional 204,636 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LIN. Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $455.00 to $525.00 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Mizuho set a $525.00 target price on Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $530.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report 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 assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $521.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the business'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. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257 in the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $494.84 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $493.33 and a 200 day moving average of $453.91. The company has a market capitalization of $229.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.92, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.78. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $510.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. The company 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%.Linde's quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company 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, sell-side analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th were given a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 43.87%.

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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