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

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six 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 issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $490.75.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total value of $2,020,301.05. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LIN. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Linde by 16.9% in the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $652,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Linde by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $873,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Linde by 5.2% during the second quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Linde Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $414.95 on Friday. Linde has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $442.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $453.78. The company has a market cap of $197.58 billion, a PE ratio of 31.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $3.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Linde will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

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.