Fayez Sarofim & Co Cuts Stock Position in Linde PLC $LIN

Fayez Sarofim & Co lessened its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 426,879 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,649 shares during the quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co’s holdings in Linde were worth $202,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership increased its position in shares of Linde by 195.2% during the third quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $493.92 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $228.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.85, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Linde PLC has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $510.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $467.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $450.04.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm 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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.87%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total value of $3,111,800.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of Linde 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,636,202.10. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. CICC Research began coverage on Linde in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. DZ Bank lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $515.20.

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.