Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Price Target Raised to $504.00

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Free Report) had its price objective raised by UBS Group from $485.00 to $504.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company's stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on LIN. Citigroup raised shares of Linde from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $535.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Argus raised shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Linde in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $576.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $518.80.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN traded down $4.87 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $465.48. 407,170 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,969,610. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $219.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.96. The stock's fifty day moving average is $463.17 and its 200 day moving average is $452.35. Linde has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.24 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.02% and a return on equity of 18.95%. Linde's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.75 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Linde will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. Linde's payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in Linde in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Linde by 1,160.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 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.