Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) VP David P. Strauss Sells 2,218 Shares

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) VP David P. Strauss sold 2,218 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.35, for a total value of $963,388.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,260,958.10. This represents a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Linde Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ LIN traded up $1.90 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $430.20. The stock had a trading volume of 3,013,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,866,501. The stock has a market cap of $204.84 billion, a PE ratio of 32.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $460.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $455.61. Linde plc has a 1 year low of $396.07 and a 1 year high of $487.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last announced 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 net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The business had revenue of $8.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.63 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on LIN. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $490.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Linde

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Linde by 1.9% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 13,239 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,809,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Linde by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 885 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Linde in the second quarter valued at about $47,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its holdings in Linde by 46.4% in the second quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 2,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $995,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KG&L Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Linde by 11.0% during the second quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC now owns 546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.