Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $490.75.

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

Linde Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $414.95 on Friday. Linde has a 12-month low of $396.07 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $442.61 and a 200-day moving average of $453.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock 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 released its quarterly 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. Linde had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 19.33%. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Linde will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds acquired 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $441.34 per share, with a total value of $44,134.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 310 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in Linde by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,221,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire raised its position in Linde by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 194 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 4,065 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,702,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Linde by 38.6% in the 4th quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 97 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. 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.