Analysts Set Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Target Price at $484.18

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $484.18.

Several equities research analysts have commented on LIN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $477.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Linde by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its position in Linde by 14.3% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group grew its stake in shares of Linde by 37.9% during the first quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 764 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the first quarter worth $219,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $481.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $230.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.68, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde has a 12 month low of $361.02 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $471.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $450.80.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 19.49%. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.57 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Linde will post 15.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Linde’s payout ratio is 42.31%.

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.