Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Rating Upgraded by Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $535.00 price target on the basic materials company's stock, up from their previous price target of $500.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $515.90.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN traded up $5.39 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $469.18. 1,827,303 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,972,081. Linde has a twelve month low of $408.65 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $220.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.07, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.97. The business's 50-day moving average price is $458.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $449.77.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.95% and a net margin of 20.02%. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.75 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Linde will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. The trade was a 47.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 22,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Linde

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Linde by 11.3% during the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 915,320 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $426,210,000 after acquiring an additional 92,762 shares during the last quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the first quarter worth approximately $214,000. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the first quarter worth approximately $211,000. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the 1st quarter valued at $15,506,000. Finally, eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter worth $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.