Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Increases Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations boosted its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 738,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. Linde accounts for 7.2% of Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations’ portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations’ holdings in Linde were worth $314,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC raised its position in Linde by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 27,341 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares in the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its position in Linde by 45.5% during the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 236,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $112,198,000 after purchasing an additional 73,850 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at about $4,243,000. National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Linde by 2.6% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 967,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $459,570,000 after buying an additional 24,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 143.4% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 15,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,415,000 after purchasing an additional 8,863 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. DZ Bank cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $545.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Linde from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $527.80.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $507.92 on Friday. 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 $521.28. The company has a market capitalization of $235.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $496.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $456.09.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.60 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The company’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 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 expect that Linde PLC will post 17.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,643,729.02. This trade represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Key Linde News

Here are the key news stories impacting Linde this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results topped expectations — adjusted EPS $4.33 vs. $4.27 consensus and revenue $8.78B (up ~8% YoY); management cited pricing and project start‑ups as growth drivers. Business Wire: Linde Reports First-Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Company raised its dividend alongside the quarter, a shareholder‑friendly move that supports income and signals confidence in cash flow. Zacks: Linde Q1 Earnings Beat, Dividend Raised
• Positive Sentiment: Profitability remains strong — net margin (~20.3%) and ROE (~19.5%) indicate healthy cash conversion and operational leverage that support valuations. MarketBeat: Linde Q1 Summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Q2 guidance given at $4.40–$4.50 is essentially in line with the Street (consensus ~4.45), so near‑term guidance doesn’t materially surprise investors either way. Seeking Alpha: Q1 Results Presentation
• Neutral Sentiment: Management hosted an earnings call and published the slide deck/transcript — useful for assessing segment dynamics (industrial gases, projects) but no new strategic shifts announced. Seeking Alpha: Q1 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: FY 2026 guidance set to $17.60–$17.90 has a midpoint slightly below the current consensus (~17.83), which could be viewed as a modest disappointment if investors expected an upward revision. Zacks: What Key Metrics Say

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.