Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Sold by Hendley & Co. Inc.

Hendley & Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 63.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 17,967 shares during the period. Hendley & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $3,047,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,485,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,231,560,000 after purchasing an additional 207,404 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 6,663,154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,932,581,000 after purchasing an additional 64,960 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 129.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,429,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,574,670,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062,157 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,931,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,430,354,000 after purchasing an additional 57,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mantle Ridge LP purchased a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter worth about $1,191,344,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $282.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Thursday, May 29th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $335.00 to $324.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $330.94.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of APD opened at $291.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $276.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $290.30. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.69 and a 1-year high of $341.14. The stock has a market cap of $64.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.85.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 15.48% and a net margin of 12.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.85 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be paid a $1.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is currently 104.07%.

Air Products and Chemicals Profile

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.