Wealthfront Advisers LLC Decreases Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Key Points

• Wealthfront Advisers LLC reduced its stake in Linde PLC by 9.7%, selling 5,161 shares and ending the quarter with 48,162 shares valued at approximately $20.54 million.
• Company insiders sold a total of 20,332 shares worth about $9.75 million over the last quarter (notably EVP and VP sales), leaving insiders with roughly 0.70% ownership.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $527.80, as several firms have raised targets (e.g., UBS $579, RBC $552, JPMorgan upgraded).

Wealthfront Advisers LLC lowered its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,162 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,161 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Linde were worth $20,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Values First Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Linde by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 2,193 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $935,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. R Squared Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 79.1% in the 4th quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 10,358 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,417,000 after buying an additional 4,574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 56,317 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $24,013,000 after buying an additional 2,598 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. Mizuho set a $525.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $512.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 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 report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $527.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total transaction of $3,111,800.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total transaction of $4,542,654.75. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,636,202.10. This represents a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 over the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $510.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $236.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.98, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.78. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $515.63. The firm's 50-day moving average is $496.32 and its 200 day moving average is $455.43. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The firm's revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm 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. Research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.81 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. 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 is presently 43.87%.

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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