Seaport Res Ptn Issues Negative Forecast for Linde Earnings

Key Points

• Seaport Res Ptn has lowered its Q3 2025 earnings estimates for Linde PLC from $4.21 to $4.19 per share, while the overall full-year earnings forecast remains at $16.54 per share.
• Linde reported Q2 earnings of $4.09 EPS, exceeding analyst expectations, with a revenue of $8.50 billion and a net margin of 20.20%.
• In recent analyst updates, several firms raised their price targets for Linde, with a consensus target price of $519.63 and a majority rating the stock as a "Buy."

Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Seaport Res Ptn lowered their Q3 2025 EPS estimates for Linde in a report issued on Thursday, August 7th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst M. Harrison now expects that the basic materials company will post earnings of $4.19 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $4.21. The consensus estimate for Linde's current full-year earnings is $16.54 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Linde's Q4 2025 earnings at $4.23 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $4.42 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $4.61 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $4.60 EPS.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released 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. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The firm had revenue of $8.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.85 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $485.00 to $504.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $519.63.

Linde Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN traded up $2.99 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $472.42. 939,239 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,504,921. Linde has a 12-month low of $408.65 and a 12-month high of $487.49. 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 50-day moving average price of $467.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $458.87. The firm has a market cap of $221.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.92.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in Linde during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $23,815,274.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 480,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,479,445.34. This represents a 9.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,557 shares of company stock worth $28,037,479. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is 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.