Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. Buys New Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Trust Services bought a new stake of 5,450 shares in Linde PLC (~$2.32 million) in Q4, joining other institutions that now own about 82.8% of the stock.
• Linde beat Q4 estimates with $4.20 EPS vs. $4.18 expected and $8.76B revenue (up 6.3% YoY), and issued Q1 2026 guidance of $4.20–$4.30 and FY2026 guidance of $17.40–$17.90 EPS.
• Investor outlook and payout: the quarterly dividend was raised to $1.60 ($6.40 annualized, 1.3% yield), while analysts maintain a consensus Buy rating with an average target of $521.60 and several firms raising targets into the high $500s.

Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. bought a new position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,450 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,324,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 195.2% during the 3rd quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Saranac Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Linde stock opened at $492.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $491.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $453.61. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $510.65.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.97 earnings per share. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. Research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. This is an increase from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.87%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of Linde 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 approximately $10,636,202.10. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their position. 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 business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. This 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 worth $9,749,257 over the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $530.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. DZ Bank cut Linde from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Linde from $545.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $521.60.

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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