Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $490.75.

LIN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho increased their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $435.30 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $207.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.93. Linde has a 52 week low of $396.07 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $461.53 and a 200-day moving average of $455.62.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Linde will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, Director Paula Rosput Reynolds purchased 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $441.34 per share, for a total transaction of $44,134.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 233 shares in the company, valued at $102,832.22. The trade was a 75.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. This trade represents a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LIN. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 16.9% during the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Prentice Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.7% in the third quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $652,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 0.9% in the third quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,290,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.3% during the third quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $873,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 5.7% during the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 445 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

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.