Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Price Target Raised to $507.00

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) had its target price increased by BMO Capital Markets from $477.00 to $507.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $490.75.

Linde Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Linde stock opened at $457.31 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $218.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day moving average is $472.87 and its 200 day moving average is $451.90. Linde has a twelve month low of $385.12 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Linde will post 15.52 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Linde during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in Linde during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Linde during the third quarter valued at $43,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.