Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Receives “Hold” Rating from Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports.

LIN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $490.75.

Linde Stock Up 0.8 %

LIN stock opened at $453.69 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.94. Linde has a fifty-two week low of $396.07 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $468.82 and a 200-day moving average of $453.12.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.89 by $0.05. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Linde

In related news, VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,136,996. This trade represents a 36.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in Linde in the first quarter valued at $550,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Linde by 46.9% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 48,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,593,000 after purchasing an additional 15,393 shares during the period. InterOcean Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 12.5% in the first quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 730 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Linde by 40.7% during the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 8,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Delap Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the first quarter valued at approximately $352,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.