Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Price Target Raised to $585.00

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) had its price target boosted by UBS Group from $574.00 to $585.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $532.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $580.00 price objective on shares of Linde and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Mizuho set a $583.00 target price on Linde in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Linde from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Monday, October 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.67.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $514.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $237.05 billion, a PE ratio of 34.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $483.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $492.35. Linde has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $548.20.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.07. Linde had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 19.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Linde will post 17.88 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 3rd. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LIN. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 74.2% during the second quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 54 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Linde in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID boosted its stake in Linde by 96.6% in the first quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 57 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 1,450.0% during the 1st quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Linde

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It produces and distributes atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and specialty gases. The company serves customers through packaged gases, bulk deliveries, on-site production and pipeline systems.

Linde’s products and services support a broad range of industries, including healthcare, food and beverage, manufacturing, chemicals, energy, refining, electronics and metals.