Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) PT Raised to $512.00 at Mizuho

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) had its price target raised by Mizuho from $510.00 to $512.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on LIN. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a peer perform rating on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Linde from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group cut Linde from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Linde from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $429.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $460.15.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN traded up $3.98 on Friday, hitting $423.60. 2,657,419 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,803,659. Linde has a 1-year low of $350.60 and a 1-year high of $477.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $455.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $422.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $204.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.68 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.38 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. Linde’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Linde will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Insider Activity

In other Linde news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,248.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.39, for a total value of $2,466,417.03. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,695.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Linde

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Group LLC bought a new position in Linde during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. First Pacific Financial acquired a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC increased its position in Linde by 122.6% during the third quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Company Profile

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.