Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Price Target Cut to $480.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) had its price target lowered by Citigroup from $490.00 to $480.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Linde currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $490.75.

Linde Trading Down 1.8 %

LIN opened at $422.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Linde has a 12 month low of $396.07 and a 12 month high of $487.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $459.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $455.34.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Linde

In other news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of Linde stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 22,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Linde

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LIN. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the second quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its holdings in Linde by 133.3% in the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 98 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

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.