Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Price

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) had its price target upped by Citigroup from $520.00 to $540.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Linde from $475.00 to $455.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, CICC Research started coverage on Linde in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.75.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $439.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Linde has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $486.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.15 billion, a PE ratio of 29.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $420.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $448.60.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 21.17%.The firm had revenue of $8.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.350-16.450 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 4.100-4.200 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Linde will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter worth $3,098,772,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Linde by 10,454.4% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,424,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,033,940,000 after buying an additional 2,401,894 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the third quarter valued at about $453,274,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Linde by 82.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,683,248 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $799,543,000 after buying an additional 760,954 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter valued at about $260,822,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Company Profile

Linde (NASDAQ: LIN) is a multinational industrial gases and engineering company that supplies gases, related technologies and services to a wide range of industries. The company traces its current form to the 2018 combination of Germany’s Linde AG and U.S.-based Praxair, creating one of the largest global providers of industrial, specialty and medical gases. Linde’s business model centers on production, processing and distribution of gases as well as the design and construction of the plants and equipment needed to produce them.

Core products and services include atmospheric and process gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon; hydrogen and helium; carbon dioxide; and a portfolio of higher‑value specialty and electronic gases.