Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) VP Sells $1,163,545.98 in Stock

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock opened at $461.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.89. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $410.69 and a 52 week high of $487.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $442.19 and its 200 day moving average is $455.07. The firm has a market cap of $218.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $3.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.93 by $0.04. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LIN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $2,901,853,000. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $2,128,233,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Linde by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,834,631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957,604 shares during the period. 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. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter worth about $468,360,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on LIN. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

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.