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

Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $460.00.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho raised shares of Linde from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock opened at $443.18 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $456.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $421.04. Linde has a twelve month low of $350.60 and a twelve month high of $477.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $213.43 billion, a PE ratio of 35.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Linde

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total transaction of $124,383.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth $1,600,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth $1,480,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth $2,045,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd increased its stake in shares of Linde by 156.3% in the fourth quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd now owns 10,121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,146,000 after acquiring an additional 6,172 shares during the period. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth $1,679,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

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.