Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) VP Guillermo Bichara Sells 4,357 Shares

Key Points

• Linde VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares on March 10 at an average price of $480.79 for about $2.09M, trimming his stake by 16.44% to 22,138 shares; he also sold 9,455 shares on Feb. 17.
• Dividend raised: Linde increased its quarterly dividend to $1.60 (from $1.50) — ex-dividend date March 11, payable March 26 — equal to a $6.40 annualized payout and roughly a 1.3% yield.
• Earnings and outlook: Linde beat quarterly expectations (EPS $4.20 vs $4.18; revenue $8.76B vs $8.64B), set Q1 2026 guidance of $4.20–4.30 and FY 2026 guidance of $17.40–17.90 EPS, and holds a consensus "Buy" with an average target of $508.20.

Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total value of $2,094,802.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,643,729.02. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Guillermo Bichara also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, February 17th, Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of Linde stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total value of $4,542,654.75.

Linde Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Linde stock traded up $8.79 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $490.34. The stock had a trading volume of 1,920,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,669,657. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.82. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $510.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $465.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $450.10.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.64 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This is an increase from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. Linde's payout ratio is presently 41.12%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 10,454.4% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,424,869 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,033,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401,894 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake in Linde by 42,539.0% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,321,809 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $56,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318,709 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Linde by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,245,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Linde by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,941,719 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,680,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,001 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Mizuho set a $525.00 target price on Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup raised their target price on Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $508.20.

About Linde

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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