BMO Capital Markets Cuts Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Price Target to $546.00

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) had its price target decreased by BMO Capital Markets from $560.00 to $546.00 in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Linde from $576.00 to $553.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Seaport Research Partners raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $525.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $600.00 to $580.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $545.38.

Linde Trading Down 2.3%

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $479.43 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $221.01 billion, a PE ratio of 30.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $512.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $499.28. Linde has a 12-month low of $387.78 and a 12-month high of $548.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.49 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.02 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 20.09% and a net margin of 20.43%.Linde’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.09 EPS. Linde has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.700-17.900 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 4.450-4.550 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde will post 17.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Linde by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,610,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,245,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,477 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in Linde by 143.4% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 15,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,415,000 after purchasing an additional 8,863 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Linde by 177.2% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,263,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $538,558,000 after buying an additional 807,370 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Linde by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,198,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $511,056,000 after buying an additional 231,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Linde by 35.2% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 348,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $148,731,000 after buying an additional 90,858 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.