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

Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $498.00.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LIN. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN opened at $452.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $213.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Linde has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $455.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $451.04.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Linde will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total transaction of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. This trade represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total value of $1,323,154.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $252,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Linde by 11.3% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 464 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Linde by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,021 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,023,000. Finally, Wealthquest Corp acquired a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $459,000. 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.