Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
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Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Linde plc shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (“FSE”) under the ticker symbol “LIN”. At December 31, 2022 there were 7,319 shareholders of record.
On January 18, 2023, shareholders approved the company’s proposal for an intercompany reorganization that will result in the delisting of its ordinary shares from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Following the completion of legal and regulatory approvals, Linde anticipates that the intercompany reorganization and delisting process will be completed, and its ordinary shares will be delisted from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, on or about March 1, 2023.
Purchases of Equity Securities – Certain information regarding purchases made by or on behalf of the company or any affiliated purchaser (as defined in Rule 10b-18(a)(3) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) of its ordinary shares during the three months ended December 31, 2022 is provided below:
| Period | Total Number of Shares Purchased (Thousands) | Average Price Paid Per Share | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Program (1) (Thousands) | Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet be Purchased Under the Program (2) (Millions) | |||||||||||||||||||
| October 2022 | 677 | $ | 287.57 | 677 | $ | 5,832 | |||||||||||||||||
| November 2022 | 1,323 | $ | 316.05 | 1,323 | $ | 5,414 | |||||||||||||||||
| December 2022 | 138 | $ | 333.88 | 138 | $ | 5,368 | |||||||||||||||||
| Fourth Quarter 2022 | 2,138 | $ | 308.18 | 2,138 | 5,368 |
(1)On February 28, 2022 the company's board of directors approved the repurchase of $10.0 billion of its ordinary shares ("2022 program") which could take place from time to time on the open market (and could include the use of 10b5-1 trading plans), subject to market and business conditions. The 2022 program has a maximum repurchase amount of 15% of outstanding shares, beginning on March 1, 2022 and expires on July 31, 2024.
(2) As of December 31, 2022, the company repurchased $4.6 billion of its ordinary shares pursuant to the 2022 ` program. As of December 31, 2022, $5.4 billion of share repurchases remain authorized under the 2022 program.
Peer Performance Table – The graph below compares the most recent five-year cumulative returns of the common stock of Praxair, the company's predecessor, through October 31, 2018 and Linde's ordinary shares for periods subsequent to October 31, 2018 with those of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index ("SPX") and the S5 Materials Index ("S5MATR") which covers 29 companies, including Linde. The figures assume an initial investment of $100 on December 31, 2017 and that all dividends have been reinvested. 
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |||||||||||||||
| LIN | $100 | $103 | $143 | $180 | $240 | $230 | ||||||||||||||
| SPX | $100 | $96 | $126 | $149 | $192 | $157 | ||||||||||||||
| S5MATR | $100 | $85 | $106 | $128 | $163 | $143 |
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