EP Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 374 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 6.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 374 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $1,273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 2,907 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $796,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 2,223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Mycio Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Mycio Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,044 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,929,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,104 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Folios Inc grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 1,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock traded up $2.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $260.98. 1,042,927 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,659,557. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The company has a market capitalization of $58.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.81. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.24 and a 52-week high of $307.71. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $265.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.96.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.15. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 20.32%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.74 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is 63.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $275.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. 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 report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $310.00 to $280.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.29.

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.