Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) VP Sells $963,388.30 in Stock

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Linde Price Performance

LIN opened at $419.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $458.10 and a 200 day moving average of $455.09. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $396.07 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The stock has a market cap of $199.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.86, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.89 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $8.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. Linde had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LIN. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho upped their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.75.

Institutional Trading of Linde

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Linde by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,973,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,217,197,000 after acquiring an additional 154,792 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,449,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,513,551,000 after purchasing an additional 15,187 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Linde by 372.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,288,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,567,958,000 after purchasing an additional 2,592,682 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 7.6% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,112,160 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,365,647,000 after purchasing an additional 218,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Linde by 1.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,015,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,438,154,000 after buying an additional 50,882 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

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.