Equities Analysts Offer Predictions for Linde Q1 Earnings

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) – Stock analysts at Seaport Res Ptn cut their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Linde in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn analyst M. Harrison now forecasts that the basic materials company will post earnings of $3.91 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $4.02. The consensus estimate for Linde’s current full-year earnings is $15.45 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Linde’s Q2 2025 earnings at $4.13 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $4.32 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $16.71 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $18.38 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on LIN. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $442.60 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $210.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s fifty day moving average is $435.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $453.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde has a 12-month low of $396.07 and a 12-month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.63 EPS.

Institutional Trading of Linde

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 17,759 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,435,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Linde by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 562,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $235,628,000 after buying an additional 18,945 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in Linde by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $2,378,000. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Linde by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,299 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $963,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds bought 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Linde Company Profile

Linde plc operates as an industrial gas company in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South Pacific. It offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene.