Brokerages Set Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) PT at $498.00

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $498.00.

A number of brokerages have commented on LIN. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Argus raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd.

Linde Trading Up 0.9 %

LIN opened at $452.12 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $455.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $451.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Linde has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Linde’s payout ratio is 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In related news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its position in Linde by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. 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.