Skopos Labs Inc. Takes $394,000 Position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Skopos Labs Inc. acquired a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $394,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 98.1% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 7,826 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after buying an additional 3,876 shares during the period. Team Hewins LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter valued at $301,000. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX purchased a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter valued at $697,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 572.2% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,085 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,837,000 after purchasing an additional 6,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 49,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,613,000 after purchasing an additional 5,140 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE APD traded up $1.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $264.61. 1,070,639 shares of the company traded hands, 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 stock has a market cap of $58.83 billion, a PE ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s fifty day moving average is $242.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $251.42. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 20.32%. The company’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.74 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on APD shares. TheStreet downgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $250.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Bank of America upped their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $272.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $285.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $273.77.

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.