Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Price Target Raised to $477.00

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) had its target price upped by BMO Capital Markets from $475.00 to $477.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on LIN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. HSBC cut their price target on Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $484.18.

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LIN traded down $1.52 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $446.02. The stock had a trading volume of 277,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,970,456. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $214.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $440.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $440.54. Linde has a 12-month low of $361.02 and a 12-month high of $477.71.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,066,825,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Linde by 566.9% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,833,465 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $851,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558,538 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at $420,720,000. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Linde by 104.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,679 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,672,000 after purchasing an additional 468,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 91.6% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 968,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $449,648,000 after purchasing an additional 463,096 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is 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.