Q1 2024 EPS Estimates for Linde plc Increased by Seaport Res Ptn (NASDAQ:LIN)

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) – Seaport Res Ptn upped their Q1 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Linde in a report released on Wednesday, April 17th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst M. Harrison now expects that the basic materials company will post earnings per share of $3.66 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $3.64. Seaport Res Ptn has a “Neutral” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Linde’s current full-year earnings is $15.58 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Linde’s Q3 2024 earnings at $3.96 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $17.07 EPS.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. Linde had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.16 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis.

LIN has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Mizuho upgraded Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $456.79.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $446.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.42, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Linde has a one year low of $350.60 and a one year high of $477.71. The business has a fifty day moving average of $453.89 and a 200 day moving average of $418.29.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.13%.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total transaction of $23,353,139.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 57,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,271,882.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Linde news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total value of $23,353,139.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,271,882.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988 over the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $1,600,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,480,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,045,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd boosted its position in shares of Linde by 156.3% during the 4th quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd now owns 10,121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,146,000 after purchasing an additional 6,172 shares during the period. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,679,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.