Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Sells 42,839 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lessened its position in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 842,026 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 42,839 shares during the period. Linde accounts for 0.6% of Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Linde were worth $359,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. YANKCOM Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 195.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on LIN. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Seaport Research Partners upped their target price on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group upped their target price on Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $521.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,643,729.02. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $494.84 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $229.30 billion, a PE ratio of 33.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $493.33 and a 200 day moving average of $453.91. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $510.65.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued 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. The company 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%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

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