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 the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.74, for a total value of $1,163,545.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,662. The trade was a 65.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Linde Price Performance

Shares of LIN opened at $468.25 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $443.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $455.16. The company has a market capitalization of $221.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. 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 fifty-two week low of $410.69 and a fifty-two week high of $487.49.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results 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%. Research analysts predict that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.39. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LIN has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup cut their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $480.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $480.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $501.82.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its stake in Linde by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 24,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,283,000 after buying an additional 1,276 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $104,000. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $142,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $386,957,000. Finally, Brucke Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Linde during the 4th quarter worth approximately $290,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.