JPMorgan Chase & Co. Upgrades Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) to Overweight

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) was upgraded by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $525.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $455.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price points to a potential upside of 6.29% from the stock’s current price.

LIN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. CICC Research initiated coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.20.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $493.92 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $467.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $450.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.88. Linde has a 1 year low of $387.78 and a 1 year high of $510.65.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The business had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.97 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Linde will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.79, for a total value of $2,094,802.03. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,643,729.02. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total transaction of $3,111,800.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257. 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 modified their holdings of LIN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Linde by 10,454.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,424,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,033,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401,894 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in Linde by 42,539.0% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,321,809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318,709 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Linde by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,245,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Linde by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,941,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,680,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,001 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Linde

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.