Seaport Res Ptn Has Positive Forecast for Linde Q1 Earnings

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) – Equities research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn upped their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for Linde in a report issued on Monday, April 21st. Seaport Res Ptn analyst M. Harrison now anticipates that the basic materials company will post earnings of $3.96 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $3.92. The consensus estimate for Linde’s current full-year earnings is $16.54 per share.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on LIN. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $498.00.

Linde Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $448.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $211.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $454.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $450.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in shares of Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This trade represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Linde’s payout ratio is 44.09%.

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.