Inspire Trust Co. N.A. Increases Stock Holdings in Linde PLC $LIN

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Saranac Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 134.5% during the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 68 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LIN shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, DZ Bank cut Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $540.00.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,643,729.02. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the company’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 owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. This represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $501.98 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $501.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $465.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $232.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.83. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $387.78 and a 52-week high of $521.28.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Linde Company 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.