Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $585.00 to $600.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Linde traded as high as $526.75 and last traded at $526.2330, with a volume of 313042 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $515.73.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on LIN. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Seaport Research Partners upped their target price on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $552.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $543.27.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID boosted its position in shares of Linde by 96.6% during the first quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 57 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Saranac Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $243.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $507.07 and a 200-day moving average of $478.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 20.44%.The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.95 EPS. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.600-17.900 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 4.400-4.500 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Linde PLC will post 17.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.50%.

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.