Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Sells 1,540 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lowered its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 52,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,540 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Linde were worth $22,553,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LIN. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Linde by 8.9% during 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. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd lifted its position in Linde by 45.5% during the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 236,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $112,198,000 after purchasing an additional 73,850 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at $4,243,000. National Pension Service lifted its position in Linde by 2.6% during 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. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in Linde by 143.4% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 15,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,415,000 after purchasing an additional 8,863 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total transaction of $4,542,654.75. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,636,202.10. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Linde stock opened at $501.14 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $496.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $456.09. The company has a market cap of $232.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.78. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $515.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $8.76 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 43.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $545.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Seaport Research Partners upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated 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 upped their price objective for the stock from $455.00 to $525.00 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $527.80.

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.