Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Price Target Cut to $475.00 by Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) had its price objective cut by BMO Capital Markets from $510.00 to $475.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on LIN. Citigroup cut Linde from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Linde from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $429.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Linde from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $464.69.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $426.62 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $455.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $423.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $205.07 billion, a PE ratio of 33.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. Linde has a 1 year low of $350.60 and a 1 year high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Linde will post 15.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total value of $23,353,139.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,271,882.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total transaction of $23,353,139.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,271,882.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988 over the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Linde

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Provence Wealth Management Group increased its holdings in Linde by 655.7% during the 4th quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $203,000. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,600,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,480,000. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. bought a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth $2,045,000. 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.