Linde PLC $LIN Shares Acquired by Boston Trust Walden Corp

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Linde by 143.4% to 15,044 shares (≈$6.42M), while SG Americas Securities added about 2.42M shares (~$1.03B); institutional and hedge funds now own 82.8% of the stock.
• Insiders have been net sellers, offloading 20,332 shares worth $9.75M last quarter — including sales by VP Guillermo Bichara and EVP Sean Durbin — leaving insiders with just 0.70% ownership.
• Wall Street is largely bullish (average rating Buy, consensus target $521.60) after Linde beat Q4 EPS/revenue, issued FY 2026 EPS guidance of 17.4–17.9, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.60 ($6.40 annual, 1.3% yield).

Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 143.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,044 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,863 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp's holdings in Linde were worth $6,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Linde by 10,454.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,424,869 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,033,940,000 after acquiring an additional 2,401,894 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $453,274,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $260,822,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Linde by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,124,882 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $910,129,000 after acquiring an additional 544,850 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $206,747,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of Linde stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,636,202.10. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total value of $3,111,800.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Linde from $545.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $455.00 to $525.00 in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners raised their target price on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $521.60.

Linde Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of LIN stock opened at $494.62 on Thursday. Linde PLC has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $510.65. The stock has a market cap of $229.20 billion, a PE ratio of 33.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.78. The business's fifty day moving average is $493.87 and its 200-day moving average is $454.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The company had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.97 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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 analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This is a boost from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde's payout ratio is 43.87%.

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.

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