Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $490.75.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho raised their price target on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th.

Linde Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ LIN opened at $420.01 on Friday. Linde has a 52 week low of $396.07 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $199.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $440.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $453.31.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The business 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Linde will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other Linde news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. This represents a 75.19 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Linde

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Linde by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,898,000 after buying an additional 5,021 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Linde by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,145,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $898,188,000 after acquiring an additional 46,843 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Linde by 16.8% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 4.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312 shares during the period. Finally, Waverton Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Linde by 0.9% in the third quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 196,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $93,457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Linde Company Profile

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.