David P. Strauss Sells 2,477 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) VP David P. Strauss sold 2,477 shares of Linde 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $610,662. This trade represents a 65.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock opened at $468.25 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $221.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $443.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $455.16. Linde plc has a 12-month low of $410.69 and a 12-month high of $487.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 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, topping 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%. Equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Linde’s payout ratio is 44.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Linde by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,834,631,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957,604 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Linde by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,598,551,000 after acquiring an additional 30,750 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Linde by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,857,741,000 after acquiring an additional 554,480 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $2,901,853,000. Finally, Freemont Capital Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Linde in the fourth quarter valued at $2,128,233,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $501.82.

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.