Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Sells 1,408 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,408 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $12,900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LIN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Linde by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,953,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $19,167,559,000 after acquiring an additional 354,800 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Linde by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,319,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,176,828,000 after purchasing an additional 172,162 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Linde by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,329,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,431,639,000 after purchasing an additional 83,236 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Linde by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,287,566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,036,594,000 after purchasing an additional 242,733 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Linde by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,895,026 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,850,137,000 after buying an additional 176,650 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Seaport Research Partners raised their price target on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $540.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were 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 owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total transaction of $2,094,802.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,643,729.02. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $506.63 on Thursday. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $521.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $498.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $461.05.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 20.44%.The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 42.50%.

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.