Davis R M Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Davis R M Inc. lowered its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,943 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,151 shares during the period. Linde comprises approximately 1.2% of Davis R M Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $69,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the third quarter worth $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership raised its position in Linde by 195.2% in the third quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Linde from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on 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 restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total value of $4,542,654.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,636,202.10. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of LIN opened at $508.08 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Linde PLC has a 1-year low of $387.78 and a 1-year high of $510.65. The stock has a market cap of $235.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $454.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $449.27.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

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

About Linde

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.