Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Linde PLC has received an average consensus rating of "Buy" from analysts, with a target price averaging $519.63.
• The company reported $4.09 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and showing a revenue increase of 2.3% compared to the previous year.
• Linde will pay a quarterly dividend of $1.50 on September 18th, representing a 1.2% yield for shareholders.

Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Buy" from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $519.6250.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total value of $23,815,274.42. Following the sale, the director owned 480,543 shares in the company, valued at $227,479,445.34. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LIN. North Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Linde in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ LIN traded up $2.1670 on Friday, hitting $480.6770. 540,123 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,068,430. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $468.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $460.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.92. Linde has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.03 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. Linde's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.85 earnings per share. Linde has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.300-16.500 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 4.100-4.20 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Linde will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.67%.

Linde Company Profile

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South Pacific. It offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene.