Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Sells 1,231 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise trimmed its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,231 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Linde were worth $4,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Hardy Reed LLC grew its position in Linde by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 3,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,598,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,670,000. Tredje AP fonden grew its position in Linde by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 68,862 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,362,000 after acquiring an additional 3,262 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Linde by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 234,593 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,028,000 after buying an additional 19,632 shares during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in Linde by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 896,131 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $382,101,000 after buying an additional 6,202 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on LIN. UBS Group increased their price objective on Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $540.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total value of $2,094,802.03. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,643,729.02. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.1%

LIN opened at $506.63 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $234.24 billion, a PE ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $498.33 and a 200-day moving average of $461.05. Linde PLC has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $521.28.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 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 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 revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business 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. Equities research analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.