Brokerages Set Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Target Price at $501.82

Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) have received 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 recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $501.82.

A number of equities analysts have commented on LIN shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $0.58 on Wednesday, reaching $458.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,967,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,723,191. Linde has a 52-week low of $410.69 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $216.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $452.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $454.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89.

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Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. As a group, 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 issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Linde's previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Linde's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.09%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were 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 owns 14,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,786,289.30. This represents a 31.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,159 shares of company stock worth $5,603,843 in the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Linde by 1,160.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 63 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its stake in shares of Linde by 144.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 71 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 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.