Moody National Bank Trust Division Cuts Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Moody National Bank Trust Division reduced its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 34.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,346 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,727 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LIN. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd boosted its position in Linde by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 236,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $112,198,000 after purchasing an additional 73,850 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,243,000. National Pension Service raised its position in Linde by 2.6% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 967,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $459,570,000 after purchasing an additional 24,624 shares during the period. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC raised its position in Linde by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 27,341 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 12.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 205,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $97,526,000 after purchasing an additional 22,489 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,636,202.10. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 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 owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Up 2.6%

LIN stock opened at $492.34 on Thursday. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month 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 company has a market capitalization of $228.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.75, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $475.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $450.96.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.97 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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, equities research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. Erste Group Bank raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. CICC Research initiated coverage on Linde in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $455.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $515.20.

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.