Linde PLC $LIN Shares Sold by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Oppenheimer cut its stake in Linde by 16.8% in Q4, selling 6,841 shares and leaving 33,865 shares valued at $14.44M, while other large institutions (Vanguard, State Street, Invesco, etc.) increased positions and institutional ownership sits at 82.8%.
• Q1 results beat expectations—EPS $4.33 vs. $4.27 and revenue $8.78B (up ~8% YoY)—and the company raised its quarterly dividend, though FY2026 guidance of $17.60–$17.90 has a midpoint slightly below consensus.
• Insiders sold about 20,332 shares (~$9.75M) in the last quarter (including EVP Sean Durbin and VP Guillermo Bichara), leaving insiders with roughly 0.70% ownership.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) by 16.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 33,865 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 6,841 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Linde were worth $14,440,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 worth $19,167,559,000 after buying an additional 354,800 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Linde by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,319,583 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,176,828,000 after acquiring an additional 172,162 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Linde by 0.9% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,329,728 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,431,639,000 after acquiring an additional 83,236 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Linde by 6.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,287,566 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,036,594,000 after acquiring an additional 242,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 4.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,895,026 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,850,137,000 after acquiring an additional 176,650 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Linde

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 Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of Linde stock opened at $507.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $235.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.81, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.78. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $496.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $456.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Linde PLC has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $521.28.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.60 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde PLC will post 17.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Linde from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $455.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Linde from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seaport Research Partners upped their target price on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Erste Group Bank raised Linde from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Linde from $512.00 to $552.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $527.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the firm's 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 directly 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. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,643,729.02. The trade was a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257 over the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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