Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) Price Target Lowered to $452.00 at HSBC

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) had its target price lowered by HSBC from $458.00 to $452.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

LIN has been the topic of several other reports. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Linde from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Linde from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $429.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Linde from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $464.69.

Linde Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ LIN opened at $426.62 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.10, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Linde has a one year low of $350.60 and a one year high of $477.71. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $455.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $423.74.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by $0.07. Linde had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Linde will post 15.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,177,248.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sanjiv Lamba sold 8,306 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.04, for a total value of $3,837,704.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 56,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,058,131.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total value of $6,030,344.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,248.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,248 shares of company stock valued at $35,811,988 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Linde

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Linde in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. First Pacific Financial purchased a new position in Linde in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its position in Linde by 122.6% in the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 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.