Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Upgraded at Argus

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Argus to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, April 8th,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on LIN. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen upgraded Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $498.00.

Linde Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded down $1.46 on Tuesday, hitting $449.51. 826,901 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,935,913. 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $455.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $451.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde has a 12 month low of $408.65 and a 12 month high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share 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%. Analysts anticipate that Linde will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,013 shares in the company, valued at $6,393,571.38. The trade was a 17.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $252,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 464 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the third quarter worth about $232,000. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in Linde by 6.7% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,021 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,023,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.