Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $510.40.

LIN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target for the company.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total value of $908,138.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares in the company, valued at $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were 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 now owns 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 11.3% in the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 915,320 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $426,210,000 after buying an additional 92,762 shares during the period. Maple Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at approximately $214,000. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at approximately $15,506,000. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in Linde during the first quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company's stock.

Linde Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $464.46 on Friday. Linde has a 1-year low of $408.65 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $218.63 billion, a PE ratio of 33.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $458.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $449.50.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.75 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Linde will post 16.54 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.57%.

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.

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