Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $489.37 and last traded at $486.3710, with a volume of 1406139 shares. The stock had previously closed at $485.28.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $516.00 target price on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.20.

Linde Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $442.80 and its 200 day moving average is $447.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.06 billion, a PE ratio of 33.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.84.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.97 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $10,636,202.10. This represents a 29.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Triumph Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 69.2% during the 4th quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 66 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership increased its stake in Linde by 195.2% in the third quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in Linde during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

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.