Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Raised to Strong-Buy at Barclays

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) was upgraded by Barclays to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on LIN. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $580.00 price objective on Linde and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Linde from $576.00 to $553.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Argus cut their price target on Linde from $563.00 to $538.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Linde from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, DZ Bank reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $547.29.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $492.70 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $227.12 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $478.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $498.13. Linde has a 52 week low of $387.78 and a 52 week high of $548.20.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $4.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.49 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $9.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.02 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 20.09%. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm 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. Research analysts expect that Linde will post 17.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 12.9% during the second quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC now owns 511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,159 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,062,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 652 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 74.2% in the 2nd quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 54 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Linde Company Profile

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is a global industrial gases and engineering company that supplies gases, related equipment and process technologies to customers in healthcare, manufacturing, chemicals, energy, food and beverage, electronics, and other industries. Its products include oxygen, nitrogen, argon, hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and specialty gases.

The company provides gases through on-site production facilities, pipelines, bulk deliveries and packaged cylinders. It also designs and builds industrial gas plants and offers technologies and services for applications such as hydrogen production, carbon capture, clean energy, semiconductor manufacturing, metal fabrication and medical care.

Linde traces its history to 1879, when German engineer Carl von Linde developed refrigeration and gas-related technologies.