Citigroup Downgrades Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) to Neutral

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) was downgraded by research analysts at Citigroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $500.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $475.00. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 10.38% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on LIN. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Mizuho upped their target price on Linde from $503.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $429.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on Linde from $395.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Linde from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $456.79.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $453.00 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $218.16 billion, a PE ratio of 35.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $449.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $415.22. Linde has a 12-month low of $350.60 and a 12-month high of $477.71.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 18.87%. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Linde will post 15.58 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.14, for a total transaction of $6,030,344.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,177,248.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Matthew J. White sold 51,231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.84, for a total value of $23,353,139.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 57,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,271,882.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 13,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly 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 sold 78,248 shares of company stock worth $35,811,988 over the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Linde by 122.6% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 69 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in Linde during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Linde during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 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.