Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $512.00 to $552.00. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Linde traded as high as $510.65 and last traded at $509.7540, with a volume of 755653 shares. The stock had previously closed at $508.06.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Mizuho set a $525.00 target price on Linde in a report on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Linde from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $455.00 to $525.00 in a research note on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Linde from $550.00 to $579.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Seaport Research Partners increased their price objective on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $527.80.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, EVP Sean Durbin sold 6,520 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.27, for a total value of $3,111,800.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,227.77. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,332 shares of company stock valued at $9,749,257. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Linde

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Triumph Capital Management raised its stake in Linde by 69.2% during the fourth quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 66 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership raised its stake in Linde by 195.2% during the third quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Stock Up 0.4%

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $495.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $454.86. 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 company has a market capitalization of $236.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.78.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The business had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.97 EPS. The business’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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.81 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.87%.

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.