Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 1,685.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 764,489 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 721,671 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.34% of Air Products and Chemicals worth $249,698,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $2,720,704,000 after purchasing an additional 4,309,040 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 29,954.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,894,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $861,722,000 after purchasing an additional 2,884,581 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 2,931.0% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,796,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $444,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,737,260 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,792,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $720,597,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 29,957.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 718,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,138,000,000 after purchasing an additional 715,686 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of APD stock traded down $1.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $309.21. 794,696 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,611,373. The business’s fifty day moving average is $298.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $274.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.24 and a 12-month high of $332.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.82.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.16. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 16.53%. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $340.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $308.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $291.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $326.12.

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.