Venturi Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,354 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Venturi Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 28.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,375 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,354 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $1,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its position in shares of Linde by 195.2% in the third quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Saranac Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Mizuho set a $525.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $518.10.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total transaction of $4,542,654.75. Following the transaction, the vice president directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of Linde 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 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

More Linde News

Here are the key news stories impacting Linde this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $579 and reiterated a Buy rating, implying ~15% upside versus the current share level; this is constructive for longer-term investor sentiment and may support buying interest. Linde Given New $579.00 Price Target at UBS Group
• Neutral Sentiment: Research notes on FY2027 earnings expectations were published (analyst estimates can guide modeling and market expectations but no single clear revision was highlighted in the release). Investors should watch if these notes change consensus versus company guidance. Research Analysts Set Expectations for Linde FY2027 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Several sports outlets ran stories about South African cricketer George Linde joining an IPL team — unrelated to Linde PLC but likely generating noisy search/mention volume that can confuse retail flows. This has no fundamental impact on the industrial gases & engineering business. George Linde set to replace Wanindu Hasaranga at LSG
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest jumped ~27% in March to ~7.08M shares (≈1.5% of shares outstanding) with a days-to-cover near 2.5 — a meaningful increase in bearish positioning that can add downward pressure or increase volatility if shorts scale or cover quickly. No company-specific catalyst was cited for the rise, so this appears driven by positioning/hedging.

Linde Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of LIN opened at $503.15 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $487.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $452.74. The company has a market capitalization of $233.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.78. 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.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $8.76 billion for 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%. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.87%.

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.