Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Price Target Raised to $516.00 at Bank of America

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) had its price objective raised by Bank of America from $495.00 to $516.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $484.18.

Linde Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $2.16 during trading on Monday, reaching $445.66. 1,527,579 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,986,922. Linde has a 1-year low of $361.02 and a 1-year high of $477.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $439.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $440.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $214.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.30 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.57 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Linde will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,796,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,434,406,000 after buying an additional 141,322 shares in the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group lifted its stake in Linde by 655.7% in the 4th quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Linde by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 5,278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,168,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter worth $1,897,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.