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

Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) VP Sean Durbin sold 7,261 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.42, for a total value of $3,314,065.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,720,279.42. This represents a 47.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Linde Price Performance

LIN stock traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $464.40. 4,344,668 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,962,702. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Linde plc has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The company has a market cap of $218.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $451.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $447.80.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.92 by $0.03. Linde had a return on equity of 18.71% and a net margin of 19.89%. The business had revenue of $8.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.75 EPS. Linde's revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Linde plc will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $503.11.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Linde

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LIN. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Linde in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,752,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 40.8% in the 4th quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 900 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in Linde by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 1,502 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $629,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,509 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,888,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Linde by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.