Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Given New $512.00 Price Target at Mizuho

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

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LIN. UBS Group cut shares of Linde from a buy rating to a neutral rating and raised their target price for the stock from $482.00 to $510.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Linde in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup cut Linde from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lifted their target price for the company from $475.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Linde from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $429.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $460.15.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock traded up $3.98 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $423.60. 2,657,419 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,803,659. Linde has a fifty-two week low of $350.60 and a fifty-two week high of $477.71. 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 firm has a market cap of $204.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.86, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $455.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $422.69.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Linde

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Retirement Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new stake in Linde in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, First Pacific Financial purchased a new position in Linde in the first quarter worth $30,000. 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.