First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Buys 74,768 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. $APD

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 1,100.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 81,562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 74,768 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $22,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 277.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,161,451 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,597,451,000 after purchasing an additional 28,050,956 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the second quarter worth $5,370,093,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,216,976,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 326.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,348,573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $927,010,000 after buying an additional 2,563,873 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 2nd quarter valued at $495,201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 1.8%

APD opened at $289.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $229.11 and a 12 month high of $314.87. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $294.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $293.22.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.34 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a positive return on equity of 16.87% and a negative net margin of 0.38%. The company’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.09 EPS. Air Products and Chemicals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.390-13.490 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.550-3.650 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 13.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $1.81 per share. This represents a $7.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is currently -3,290.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on APD shares. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $340.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $320.00 price target on Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $336.00 to $305.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $334.71.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc is a global industrial gases and related equipment company headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company supplies atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as process and specialty gases including hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and syngas.

Air Products serves customers in a range of industries, including refining, chemicals, metals, electronics, manufacturing, food and beverage, healthcare and energy. Its offerings include gases delivered through pipelines, bulk and packaged distribution, and on-site production systems, along with gas-processing equipment and technologies used in applications such as hydrogen production, natural gas liquefaction and carbon capture.

Founded in 1940, Air Products operates across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and other international markets.