Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Sells 593 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,164 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 593 shares during the quarter. Air Products and Chemicals makes up about 1.8% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $18,937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 2.0% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 14,886,487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,458,949,000 after purchasing an additional 291,104 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,693,186 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,920,175,000 after acquiring an additional 307,468 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,414,008 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,668,923,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115,729 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,163,043 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,246,957,000 after acquiring an additional 38,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,829,919 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,085,399,000 after buying an additional 39,215 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of APD stock traded up $3.91 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $241.74. The stock had a trading volume of 555,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,840,193. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $240.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $264.59. The firm has a market cap of $53.74 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.81. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.24 and a fifty-two week high of $307.71.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by ($0.18). Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 18.82%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This is an increase from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $264.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $305.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $279.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $280.29.

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.