Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) VP Sells $4,639,068.75 in Stock

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) VP John Panikar sold 10,025 shares of Linde stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.75, for a total value of $4,639,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,584 shares in the company, valued at $8,136,996. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Linde Price Performance

NASDAQ:LIN opened at $468.81 on Friday. Linde plc has a 52 week low of $361.02 and a 52 week high of $479.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $223.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $454.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $448.65.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.30 billion. Linde had a return on equity of 17.92% and a net margin of 19.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.57 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Linde plc will post 15.54 EPS for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a $1.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $5.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Linde from $495.00 to $516.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $477.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $484.18.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LIN. Retirement Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Linde by 44.4% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 78 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

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.