Insider Selling: Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) VP Sells 4,385 Shares of Stock

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) VP Guillermo Bichara sold 4,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.73, for a total transaction of $2,020,301.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,493,586.48. The trade was a 16.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Linde Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ LIN opened at $449.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $214.01 billion, a PE ratio of 34.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.93. Linde plc has a 1-year low of $396.07 and a 1-year high of $487.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $465.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $454.93.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.63 EPS. Linde’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 15.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Linde Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.39 per share. This represents a $5.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LIN shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Linde from $477.00 to $507.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Linde in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Linde from $510.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Linde from $520.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Linde during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Linde in the third quarter worth $34,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in Linde during the second quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Linde during the third quarter worth $43,000. 82.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.