Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Receives $508.20 Average Price Target from Analysts

Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $508.20.

Several analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on Linde from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th.

Insider Activity at Linde

In related news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total transaction of $4,542,654.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 22,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,636,202.10. This represents a 29.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Triumph Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Linde by 69.2% in the 4th 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. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 195.2% in the 3rd quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $477.94 on Wednesday. Linde has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $510.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $463.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $449.88.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.97 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Linde will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.12%.

About Linde

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.