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

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $503.11.

A number of research analysts recently commented on LIN shares. Argus raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd.

Linde Stock Up 0.5%

LIN opened at $472.71 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $222.52 billion, a PE ratio of 34.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde has a 52 week low of $408.65 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $452.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $448.51.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.24 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The firm’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Linde will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. Linde’s payout ratio is 43.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 1,987 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.04, for a total transaction of $908,138.48. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 22,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,346,928.56. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Linde

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LIN. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new stake in Linde in the first quarter worth about $15,506,000. eCIO Inc. bought a new position in shares of Linde during the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Cim LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 6.0% during the first quarter. Cim LLC now owns 530 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 92.0% during the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Linde during the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.