Park Avenue Securities LLC Lowers Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Park Avenue Securities LLC trimmed its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,256 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,281 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $9,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LIN. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 87.9% in the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 263 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Foguth Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $507,000. First Financial Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 1,206.6% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 6,533 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,786,000 after purchasing an additional 6,033 shares during the period. RIA Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, Mirova lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirova now owns 20,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,598,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Linde stock opened at $488.15 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $473.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $450.87. Linde PLC has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $510.65. The firm has a market cap of $226.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the business earned $3.97 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 43.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $515.20.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total transaction of $2,094,802.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,643,729.02. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total transaction of $3,111,800.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.