Sands Capital Management LLC Sells 2,295 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Sands Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 84,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,295 shares during the quarter. Sands Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $40,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 4.5% in the second quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 508 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Embree Financial Group raised its position in Linde by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 469 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc lifted its holdings in Linde by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its holdings in Linde by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 8,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,071,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its position in shares of Linde by 24.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 122 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock opened at $477.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.47 billion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average is $463.95 and its 200-day moving average is $449.88. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The business had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was 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 $10,636,202.10. This represents a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. CICC Research assumed coverage on Linde in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Linde from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $508.20.

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.