Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) VP John Panikar Sells 10,025 Shares

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

Linde Stock Performance

NASDAQ LIN opened at $465.11 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $453.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $448.35. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $361.02 and a 52-week high of $479.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.94.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.06. Linde had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 17.92%. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 4th. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LIN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Linde from $460.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Linde from $490.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Linde from $430.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $477.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Linde from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $484.18.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Linde in the second quarter valued at about $471,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Linde during the second quarter valued at approximately $18,573,000. Creekside Partners acquired a new stake in Linde during the second quarter valued at approximately $369,000. Souders Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Linde by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 9,186 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,031,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Linde by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,993,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $874,908,000 after buying an additional 160,355 shares in the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.