Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $501.82.

LIN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th.

Linde Stock Up 0.1 %

Linde stock opened at $460.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $217.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde has a twelve month low of $410.69 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $450.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $454.57.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. As a group, analysts expect that Linde will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s payout ratio is 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other 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 transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Linde by 1,160.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in Linde by 144.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.