Sean Durbin Sells 7,261 Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) Stock

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN) VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total transaction of $3,314,065.62. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,151 shares in the company, valued at $3,720,279.42. This trade represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Linde Price Performance

Linde stock opened at $464.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a 52-week low of $408.65 and a 52-week high of $487.49. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $451.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $447.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.10, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 18.71%. The company had revenue of $8.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.75 earnings per share. Linde’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Linde plc will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Linde’s payout ratio is presently 43.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Linde to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.11.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Linde by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,547,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,834,631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957,604 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Linde by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,003,925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,598,551,000 after buying an additional 30,750 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Linde by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,600,297 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,470,284,000 after purchasing an additional 453,108 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Linde by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,214,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,857,741,000 after purchasing an additional 554,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Linde by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,542,991 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,511,751,000 after buying an additional 1,182,157 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.80% of the company’s stock.

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.