Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Linde PLC has received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from twelve brokerages, with two holding, eight buying, and two giving a strong buy rating.
• The average twelve-month price target for Linde’s stock is $519.63, indicating positive expectations among analysts.
• In its latest earnings report, Linde beat estimates with $4.09 earnings per share and a revenue increase of 2.3% year-over-year.

Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $519.6250.

Several research analysts have weighed in on LIN shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada started 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. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, Director Stephen F. Angel sold 50,309 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.38, for a total value of $23,815,274.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 480,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. This trade represents a 9.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Linde in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde during the first quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in Linde during the second quarter worth approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of LIN opened at $466.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Linde has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $474.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $464.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.03 by $0.06. The firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Linde will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.67%.

About Linde

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.

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