Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Given New $540.00 Price Target at Royal Bank Of Canada

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) had its target price reduced by Royal Bank Of Canada from $576.00 to $540.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on LIN. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Linde from $475.00 to $455.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $516.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Linde from $535.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.83.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock traded up $5.19 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $420.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,562,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,066,077. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.36 billion, a PE ratio of 29.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.91. Linde has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $486.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $460.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $463.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 19.09%. The business had revenue of $8.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Linde has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.350-16.450 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 4.100-4.200 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Linde will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 40.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Breakwater Capital Group increased its position in shares of Linde by 2.3% in the second quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Canopy Partners LLC boosted its position in Linde by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 788 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA increased its holdings in Linde by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA now owns 1,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $559,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Clarendon Private LLC raised its position in Linde by 1.0% in the second quarter. Clarendon Private LLC now owns 2,273 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 1.4% during the second quarter. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

About Linde

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.