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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total transaction of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at $11,260,958.10. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ LIN traded up $1.90 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $430.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,013,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,866,501. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $460.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $455.61. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 EPS 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 business had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Linde plc will post 15.48 EPS for the current year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $1.39 dividend. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LIN. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Linde by 6.7% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 79,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,021 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of Linde by 4.4% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,215,000 after acquiring an additional 2,312 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Linde by 16.8% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,580,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Linde by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 196,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $93,457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811 shares during the period. Finally, Atom Investors LP increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 19.8% during the third quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 12,269 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LIN shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their price objective on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.75.

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.