Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $468.83.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. Citigroup cut shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th.

Institutional Trading of Linde

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Linde by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,796,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,434,406,000 after acquiring an additional 141,322 shares during the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group lifted its position in Linde by 655.7% during the fourth quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $203,000. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC lifted its position in Linde by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 5,278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,168,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC bought a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $1,897,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Linde Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $436.95 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $437.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $431.78. The company has a market cap of $210.03 billion, a PE ratio of 33.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.95. Linde has a 52-week low of $358.37 and a 52-week high of $477.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Linde will post 15.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

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.