Linde PLC (LIN) – What Are Brokerages Thinking About This Stock?

Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the twenty-four ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $547.10.

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Linde from $553.00 to $549.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Linde from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore raised their price target on Linde from $515.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Linde from $535.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, DZ Bank reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Thursday, August 6th.

Linde Stock Up 1.0%

LIN stock opened at $503.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $232.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.52, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.71. Linde has a fifty-two week low of $387.78 and a fifty-two week high of $548.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $478.74 and a 200-day moving average of $498.19.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.49 by $0.01. Linde had a return on equity of 20.09% and a net margin of 20.43%. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.700-17.900 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 4.450-4.550 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Linde will post 17.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 41.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Investment Research Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at about $247,000. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth about $1,659,000. Maia Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $997,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 676 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 3,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,871,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Linde

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It produces and distributes atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and specialty gases. The company serves customers through packaged gases, bulk deliveries, on-site production and pipeline systems.

Linde’s products and services support a broad range of industries, including healthcare, food and beverage, manufacturing, chemicals, energy, refining, electronics and metals.