Chilton Capital Management LLC Purchases 211 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $1,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

NYSE:APD opened at $291.84 on Friday. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.69 and a 52 week high of $341.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $276.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $290.30. The firm has a market cap of $64.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.85.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 12.76% and a return on equity of 15.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on APD. Citigroup raised their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $335.00 to $324.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $282.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $330.94.

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.