Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Sold by Fundamentun LLC

Fundamentun LLC lessened its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD – Get Rating) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,228 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 99 shares during the period. Fundamentun LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $2,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,472,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,764,527,000 after acquiring an additional 176,222 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,829,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,621,573,000 after acquiring an additional 292,013 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.5% during the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,085,969 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $982,594,000 after acquiring an additional 21,569 shares during the period. Public Investment Fund grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 269.2% in the second quarter. Public Investment Fund now owns 2,685,331 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $645,768,000 after buying an additional 1,957,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 2.0% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,950,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $469,160,000 after buying an additional 39,169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Sean D. Major sold 485 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.00, for a total value of $151,805.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,275 shares in the company, valued at $4,468,075. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on APD. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Vertical Research raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 13th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $339.00 to $329.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $330.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $312.75.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of APD traded down $4.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $274.74. 1,545,642 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,162,391. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $294.11 and its 200 day moving average is $281.37. The stock has a market cap of $61.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.93. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $218.88 and a 1-year high of $328.56.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.27 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 17.61% and a return on equity of 16.45%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.52 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 11.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. This is a boost from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 31st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is 63.59%.

Air Products and Chemicals Profile

(Get Rating)

Air Products & Chemicals, Inc engages in the manufacture and distribution of atmospheric gases. It operates through the following segments: Industrial Gases-Americas, Industrial Gases-EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), Industrial Gases-Asia, Industrial Gases-Global, and Corporate & Other. The Industrial Gases-America, EMEA, and Asia segment markets and produces atmospheric gases, such as oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases, process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, syngas, and specialty gases and equipment for the production and processing of gases, such as air separation units and non-cryogenic generators.