Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Price Target Raised to $480.00 at Citigroup

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Citigroup from $470.00 to $480.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target indicates a potential upside of 8.42% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on LIN. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. HSBC cut their price objective on Linde from $458.00 to $452.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Mizuho raised their target price on Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $464.25.

Linde Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LIN traded up $7.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $442.73. 845,941 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,025,298. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $434.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $435.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.81 billion, a PE ratio of 34.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.93. Linde has a one year low of $361.02 and a one year high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.38 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 19.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Linde will post 15.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Retirement Group LLC bought a new position in Linde in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First Pacific Financial bought a new position in shares of Linde during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 49.0% in the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Linde by 44.4% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 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.