Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $516.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Linde from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, CICC Research assumed coverage on Linde in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $510.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $508.20.

Linde Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $496.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $231.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Linde has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $498.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $446.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $448.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. Linde had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 20.30%.The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.97 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. Analysts predict that Linde will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total value of $4,542,654.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at $10,636,202.10. This trade represents a 29.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,243,000. Markel Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde by 3.1% during the second quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 186,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $87,549,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares during the period. National Pension Service boosted its position in Linde by 2.6% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 967,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $459,570,000 after purchasing an additional 24,624 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Linde by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 205,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $97,526,000 after purchasing an additional 22,489 shares during the period. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its stake in Linde by 27.2% in the 2nd quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 417,001 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $195,649,000 after purchasing an additional 89,129 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

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.