Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) CFO Matthew White Sells 86,833 Shares of Company Stock

Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) CFO Matthew White sold 86,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.21, for a total value of $45,258,227.93. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 50,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,442,546.93. The trade was a 63.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN opened at $515.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.86. Linde PLC has a 52-week low of $387.78 and a 52-week high of $548.20. The business’s fifty day moving average is $486.57 and its 200-day moving average is $494.34. The firm has a market cap of $236.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.67.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $4.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.52 by $0.07. Linde had a net margin of 19.34% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The business had revenue of $9.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.21 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 17.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be issued a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 3rd. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is 42.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on LIN. UBS Group increased their price objective on Linde from $574.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Linde from $580.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of Linde from $563.00 to $538.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Mizuho set a $583.00 price objective on shares of Linde in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Linde from $535.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Linde presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.05.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Linde by 3.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,344,181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,558,016,000 after purchasing an additional 719,052 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Linde by 13.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 3,162,409 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,567,796,000 after acquiring an additional 373,012 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Linde by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,740,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,358,712,000 after buying an additional 64,078 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Linde by 28.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,624,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $805,475,000 after acquiring an additional 361,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Linde by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,370,361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $679,370,000 after purchasing an additional 85,360 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

Linde Company Profile

Linde plc is a global industrial gases and engineering company. It produces and supplies atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium and specialty gases. The company also designs and builds equipment and facilities used to produce and process gases.

Linde serves customers across industries including healthcare, manufacturing, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics and energy. Its operations span the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

The company was formed in 2018 through the merger of Germany’s Linde AG and U.S.-based Praxair, bringing together businesses with long histories in industrial gases and engineering.