UBS Group Trims Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Target Price to $475.00

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) had its target price trimmed by UBS Group from $490.00 to $475.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on LIN. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup downgraded Linde from a buy rating to a neutral rating and upped their price objective for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. HSBC reduced their price objective on Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $464.25.

Linde Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $440.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $211.84 billion, a PE ratio of 34.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Linde has a 52-week low of $361.02 and a 52-week high of $477.71. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $434.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $435.44.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.38 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. The business’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.42 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Linde will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th were issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Group LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. First Pacific Financial acquired a new stake in Linde during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 49.0% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Linde by 44.4% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 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.