Seaport Res Ptn Has Bullish Estimate for Linde Q1 Earnings

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Seaport Res Ptn raised their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Linde in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, February 11th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst M. Harrison now anticipates that the basic materials company will post earnings of $3.92 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $3.91. The consensus estimate for Linde's current full-year earnings is $16.55 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Linde's Q3 2025 earnings at $4.22 EPS.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $501.82.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $8.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $465.83. The company had a trading volume of 2,808,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,301,429. The company's 50 day moving average price is $435.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $454.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $221.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. Linde has a 52-week low of $410.69 and a 52-week high of $487.49.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,832.22. This trade represents a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This trade represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,503 shares of company stock worth $4,306,843 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,901,853,000. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,128,233,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in Linde by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,834,631,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957,604 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Linde by 372.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,567,958,000 after acquiring an additional 2,592,682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $468,360,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.