Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Receives $503.11 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $503.11.

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

Linde Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of LIN stock traded down $0.67 on Thursday, hitting $452.56. 1,058,910 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,932,553. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. Linde has a fifty-two week low of $408.65 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $452.15 and a 200 day moving average of $448.55.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The firm had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.75 EPS. The business's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Linde will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Linde

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. lifted its stake in Linde by 85.2% during the fourth quarter. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Channel Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 7,385 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 211,395 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $88,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $625,000. Finally, Signet Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $749,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company's stock.

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.