Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Bought by SageView Advisory Group LLC

SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 572.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,085 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,031 shares during the quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $1,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 4.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,302,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,502,717,000 after acquiring an additional 235,037 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,829,919 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,085,399,000 after buying an additional 39,215 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter worth about $852,288,000. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,931,619 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $528,877,000 after buying an additional 66,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,715,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $486,047,000 after buying an additional 21,422 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $285.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $279.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $250.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $273.77.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of APD stock traded up $1.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $264.61. 1,070,639 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,712,160. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.49. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $242.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $251.42. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a one year low of $212.24 and a one year high of $307.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.80.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.15. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.74 EPS. Air Products and Chemicals’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.90%.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, India, and internationally. The company produces atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and syngas; and specialty gases for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, energy production, medical, food, and metals.