Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Price Target Raised to $579.00

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) had its price target boosted by UBS Group from $550.00 to $579.00 in a research report released on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

LIN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $455.00 to $525.00 in a report on Friday, March 13th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho set a $525.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $518.10.

Linde Trading Down 0.0%

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $503.15 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $487.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $452.74. Linde has a 12 month low of $387.78 and a 12 month high of $510.65.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total transaction of $3,111,800.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,227.77. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total transaction of $4,542,654.75. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,636,202.10. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,332 shares of company stock worth $9,749,257. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,401,894 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in Linde by 42,539.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,321,809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,361,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318,709 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Linde by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,245,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Linde by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,941,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,680,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130,001 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Linde

Here are the key news stories impacting Linde this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $579 and reiterated a Buy rating, implying ~15% upside versus the current share level; this is constructive for longer-term investor sentiment and may support buying interest. Linde Given New $579.00 Price Target at UBS Group
• Neutral Sentiment: Research notes on FY2027 earnings expectations were published (analyst estimates can guide modeling and market expectations but no single clear revision was highlighted in the release). Investors should watch if these notes change consensus versus company guidance. Research Analysts Set Expectations for Linde FY2027 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Several sports outlets ran stories about South African cricketer George Linde joining an IPL team — unrelated to Linde PLC but likely generating noisy search/mention volume that can confuse retail flows. This has no fundamental impact on the industrial gases & engineering business. George Linde set to replace Wanindu Hasaranga at LSG
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest jumped ~27% in March to ~7.08M shares (≈1.5% of shares outstanding) with a days-to-cover near 2.5 — a meaningful increase in bearish positioning that can add downward pressure or increase volatility if shorts scale or cover quickly. No company-specific catalyst was cited for the rise, so this appears driven by positioning/hedging.

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.