Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Increases Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI grew its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,814 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,249 shares during the period. Linde accounts for approximately 1.8% of Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Linde were worth $25,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,752,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 19.8% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $736,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 19.3% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 897 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 21.6% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 106,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $50,075,000 after acquiring an additional 18,933 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LIN. CICC Research began coverage on Linde in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 price target for the company. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.20.

Linde Trading Up 0.4%

Linde stock opened at $479.84 on Wednesday. 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 moving average of $474.46 and a 200 day moving average of $450.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.82. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $510.65.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total value of $2,094,802.03. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,643,729.02. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.