California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Stake in Linde PLC $LIN

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 13.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 816,545 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 122,934 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.18% of Linde worth $404,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Triumph Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Linde by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 66 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Saranac Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 134.5% during the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 68 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $548.67.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of Linde stock opened at $513.22 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $515.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $491.09. Linde PLC has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $548.20. The firm has a market cap of $237.29 billion, a PE ratio of 34.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm 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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.50%.

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.