Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,644 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 44 shares during the quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 62.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,230,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,720,704,000 after buying an additional 4,309,040 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 4th quarter worth $852,288,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,034,818 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $525,085,000 after purchasing an additional 5,140 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 50.6% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,547,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,841,000 after purchasing an additional 520,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,508,625 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $413,078,000 after purchasing an additional 168,959 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $276.00 to $281.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.40.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:APD traded up $1.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $278.85. The stock had a trading volume of 919,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,660,860. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.24 and a 12-month high of $307.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $267.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $254.21.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.16. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 21.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is 63.90%.

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.