Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Receives $460.00 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $460.15.

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group downgraded shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th.

Linde Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ LIN opened at $423.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $204.00 billion, a PE ratio of 32.86, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.94. Linde has a 12 month low of $350.60 and a 12 month high of $477.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $455.47 and a 200-day moving average of $422.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.38 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.13%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total transaction of $3,837,704.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,058,131.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 over the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $367,000. Country Club Bank GFN increased its position in Linde by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Country Club Bank GFN now owns 3,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 3.1% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,874 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Covenant Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth $811,000. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth $255,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.