Qsemble Capital Management LP Takes Position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,785 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,159,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 1,741 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 1,874 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Farmers Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 1,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Osher Van de Voorde Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Osher Van de Voorde Investment Management now owns 72,118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $19,746,000 after buying an additional 4,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bath Savings Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 3,607 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $988,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:APD traded up $7.69 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $267.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,210,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,755,050. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $263.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $250.34. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.24 and a fifty-two week high of $307.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.49.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on APD shares. StockNews.com raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 29th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $275.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $257.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.43.

About Air Products and Chemicals

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.