Recent Research Analysts’ Ratings Updates for Linde (LIN)

Linde (NASDAQ: LIN) has recently received a number of price target changes and ratings updates:

• 4/11/2024 – Linde had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $480.00 to $540.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 4/10/2024 – Linde was downgraded by analysts at Citigroup Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a $500.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $475.00.
• 3/27/2024 – Linde was downgraded by analysts at UBS Group AG from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a $510.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $482.00.
• 3/26/2024 – Linde had its price target raised by analysts at Mizuho from $503.00 to $510.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 3/7/2024 – Linde had its price target raised by analysts at Mizuho from $434.00 to $503.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 3/1/2024 – Linde is now covered by analysts at Wolfe Research. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock.
• 2/16/2024 – Linde had its price target raised by analysts at TD Cowen from $395.00 to $455.00. They now have a “market perform” rating on the stock.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN stock traded up $1.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $445.78. The stock had a trading volume of 1,577,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,286,592. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $451.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $416.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $214.68 billion, a PE ratio of 35.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $350.60 and a 52-week high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.58 EPS for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 44.13%.

Insider Activity at Linde

In other news, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Linde news, VP Sean Durbin sold 5,277 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,809,695.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Oliver Pfann sold 300 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.61, for a total value of $124,383.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Linde

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. OneAscent Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Linde by 6.0% during the first quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Linde by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. DeDora Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Linde by 0.7% in the first quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 4,398 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,042,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in Linde by 19.4% in the first quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 765,907 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,626,000 after acquiring an additional 124,341 shares during the period. Finally, LongView Wealth Management purchased a new position in Linde in the first quarter worth approximately $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

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.