Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 1,069,057 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the previous session’s volume of 2,059,211 shares.The stock last traded at $441.24 and had previously closed at $442.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LIN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. UBS Group lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, HSBC dropped their price target on shares of Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $468.83.

Linde Stock Up 0.0 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $436.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $432.75. The company has a market capitalization of $212.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were given a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Linde by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,676,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,744,033,000 after buying an additional 405,952 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Linde by 1.3% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 141,322 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,066,825,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in shares of Linde by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,959,993 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,624,462,000 after buying an additional 138,585 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Linde by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,893,414 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,343,470,000 after buying an additional 66,880 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.