Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $460.00.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LIN. Citigroup lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company 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 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $443.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $456.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $421.04. The stock has a market cap of $213.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.17, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.93. Linde has a 1-year low of $350.60 and a 1-year high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. Linde had a net margin of 18.87% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.16 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Linde will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $1.39 dividend. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the company’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 transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,695.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total transaction of $2,466,417.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,600,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,480,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,045,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd boosted its holdings in Linde by 156.3% during the fourth quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd now owns 10,121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,146,000 after buying an additional 6,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,679,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by 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.