Rep. George Whitesides Sells Off Shares of Linde plc (NASDAQ:LIN)

Representative George Whitesides (D-California) recently sold shares of Linde plc NASDAQ: LIN. In a filing disclosed on April 23rd, the Representative disclosed that they had sold between $100,001 and $250,000 in Linde stock on March 24th. The trade occurred in the Representative's "GEORGE WHITESIDES INDIVIDUAL" account.

Representative George Whitesides also recently made the following trade(s):

• Sold $100,001 - $250,000 in shares of Netflix NASDAQ: NFLX on 3/27/2025.
• Sold $250,001 - $500,000 in shares of Innoviva NASDAQ: INVA on 3/25/2025.
• Sold $50,001 - $100,000 in shares of Union Pacific NYSE: UNP on 3/24/2025.
• Sold $100,001 - $250,000 in shares of Procter & Gamble NYSE: PG on 3/24/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Sandoz Group OTCMKTS: SDZNY on 3/24/2025.
• Sold $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of American Electric Power NASDAQ: AEP on 3/24/2025.
• Sold $50,001 - $100,000 in shares of Medtronic NYSE: MDT on 3/24/2025.
• Sold $100,001 - $250,000 in shares of McDonald's NYSE: MCD on 3/24/2025.
• Sold $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of Bank of America NYSE: BAC on 3/24/2025.
• Sold $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of Diageo NYSE: DEO on 3/24/2025.

Linde Stock Performance

LIN traded down $8.52 during trading on Thursday, hitting $444.71. 354,237 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,945,697. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $210.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Linde plc has a one year low of $408.65 and a one year high of $487.49. The stock's fifty day moving average is $453.75 and its 200 day moving average is $450.09.

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

Linde Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Linde's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wrapmanager Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Linde by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC grew its stake in Linde by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Linde by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 85 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA raised its stake in shares of Linde by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 4,774 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,999,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fourpath Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Linde by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. 82.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert L. Wood sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.26, for a total transaction of $1,323,154.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,393,571.38. This represents a 17.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Juergen Nowicki sold 6,782 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.62, for a total value of $3,117,142.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,786,289.30. The trade was a 31.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,159 shares of company stock valued at $5,603,843 over the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LIN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus upgraded Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Linde to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Linde from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $480.00 to $515.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Linde has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $498.00.

About Representative Whitesides

George Whitesides (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing California's 27th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2025. His current term ends on January 3, 2027. Whitesides (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent California's 27th Congressional District. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024. George Whitesides earned a bachelor's degree in public and international affairs from Princeton University in 1996 and a master's degree in remote sensing and GIS from the University of Cambridge in 2000. His career experience includes working as the chief of staff for NASA during the administration of President Barack Obama (D) and the CEO of human spaceflight company Virgin Galactic. Whitesides co-founded Megafire Action, an organization dedicated to responding to wildfires. Whitesides co-chaired the Antelope Valley Covid-19 Task Force and joined the Antelope Valley Economic Development and Growth Enterprise (AV EDGE) as a board member.

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.