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 Linde stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total transaction of $1,163,545.98. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $610,662. This represents a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Linde Stock Performance

Linde stock opened at $466.16 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $443.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $455.24. Linde plc has a twelve month low of $410.69 and a twelve month high of $487.49. The company has a market capitalization of $220.45 billion, a PE ratio of 34.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $178,000. TFR Capital LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Linde in the fourth quarter valued at about $311,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its position in shares of Linde by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 24,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,283,000 after acquiring an additional 1,276 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $104,000. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Linde during the fourth quarter valued at about $142,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LIN shares. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.