Seaport Res Ptn Analysts Lower Earnings Estimates for Linde

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) – Equities research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn cut their Q1 2025 EPS 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 per share of $3.91 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.

Several other analysts have also commented on LIN. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $439.25 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $435.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $453.02. Linde has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.35, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.63 earnings per share.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 35,038 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,669,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. raised its holdings in Linde by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,732,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in shares of Linde by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 5,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,394,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.