Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Receives $484.18 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $484.18.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LIN shares. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $477.00 price target on shares of Linde in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock opened at $479.51 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $460.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $449.82. Linde has a 52-week low of $361.02 and a 52-week high of $483.36. The company has a market capitalization of $230.49 billion, a PE ratio of 37.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Linde will post 15.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were given a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total transaction of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 44.4% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association grew its holdings in Linde by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 14,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538 shares during the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth $1,897,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth $532,000. Finally, J. W. Coons Advisors LLC grew its stake in Linde by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,332,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. 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.