Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Linde shares hit a new 52-week high after Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target to $552 and several other firms (Citigroup, UBS, Seaport) also boosted targets, leaving a MarketBeat consensus rating of Buy and an average target of $527.80.
• Linde slightly beat Q results (EPS $4.20 vs. $4.18; revenue $8.76B vs. $8.64B), provided Q1 2026 EPS guidance of 4.200–4.300 and FY 2026 guidance of 17.400–17.900, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.60 (annual $6.40, yield 1.3%).
• Insiders sold 20,332 shares worth about $9.75M in the last 90 days, while institutional investors hold roughly 82.8% of the company, with Vanguard, State Street and others increasing stakes.

Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $512.00 to $552.00. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Linde traded as high as $510.65 and last traded at $509.7540, with a volume of 755653 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $508.06.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Linde from $545.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Seaport Research Partners raised their price target on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Linde from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $527.80.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,636,202.10. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 354,800 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 172,162 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,353,011 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,820,533,000 after buying an additional 35,945 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Linde by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,127,594 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,318,325,000 after buying an additional 797,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Linde by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,784,371 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,171,959,000 after buying an additional 695,771 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's 50 day moving average is $494.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $454.57.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. Linde's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.97 earnings per share. 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 anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. Linde's payout ratio is presently 43.87%.

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.

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