Sanford C. Bernstein Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from $561.00 to $599.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price target indicates a potential upside of 16.71% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on LIN. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $560.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Seaport Research Partners lifted their target price on Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Citigroup began coverage on Linde in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Linde from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $548.67.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $513.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $237.29 billion, a PE ratio of 34.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Linde has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $548.20. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $515.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $491.09.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 19.80%. The business had revenue of $8.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde will post 17.88 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Linde

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,246,750,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $1,033,940,000 after acquiring an additional 2,401,894 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings 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 worth $56,361,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318,709 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew 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 period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew 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 period. 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.