Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock Price Target Raised at UBS Group

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) had its target price upped by UBS Group from $574.00 to $585.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Linde from $542.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho set a $583.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their target price on Linde from $560.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $580.00 price objective on shares of Linde and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.67.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $514.24 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business’s 50 day moving average is $483.53 and its 200-day moving average is $492.35. The stock has a market cap of $237.05 billion, a PE ratio of 34.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.71. Linde has a twelve month low of $387.78 and a twelve month high of $548.20.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.52 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $9.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.16 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 19.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.21 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Linde will post 17.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 3rd. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LIN. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Linde during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its holdings in Linde by 96.6% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 57 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 74.2% in the 2nd quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 54 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 1,450.0% during the first quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Linde

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It produces and distributes atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and specialty gases. The company serves customers through packaged gases, bulk deliveries, on-site production and pipeline systems.

Linde’s products and services support a broad range of industries, including healthcare, food and beverage, manufacturing, chemicals, energy, refining, electronics and metals.