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

Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $501.82.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. Citigroup cut their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $457.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $454.32 and its 200-day moving average is $454.19. Linde has a 12-month low of $410.69 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Linde news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $3,117,142.84. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Linde

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter valued at $2,901,853,000. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Linde during the fourth quarter worth $2,128,233,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in Linde by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,834,631,000 after buying an additional 2,957,604 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Linde by 372.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,567,958,000 after buying an additional 2,592,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth about $468,360,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.