Securian Asset Management Inc. Trims Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Securian Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 43.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,697 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,949 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Linde were worth $5,414,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LIN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $19,167,559,000 after acquiring an additional 354,800 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,319,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,176,828,000 after purchasing an additional 172,162 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $4,431,639,000 after purchasing an additional 83,236 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 6.0% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 176,650 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,636,202.10. This represents a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price target on Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Seaport Research Partners lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $580.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $540.00.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $493.16 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $228.01 billion, a PE ratio of 32.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average of $496.88 and a 200 day moving average of $457.12. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $521.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.95 earnings per share. 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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.