Blair William & Co. IL Grows Position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,468 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $19,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 167.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,921,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,894,973,000 after acquiring an additional 4,330,471 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $852,288,000. Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the first quarter worth $87,173,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 66.1% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 860,519 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $207,807,000 after purchasing an additional 342,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 96.4% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 684,057 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $187,589,000 after buying an additional 335,717 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective 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. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.43.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:APD traded down $3.68 on Friday, hitting $262.91. 754,647 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,732,728. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.24 and a 1-year high of $307.71. The company has a market capitalization of $58.45 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $264.47 and its 200 day moving average is $250.54.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 20.32% and a return on equity of 16.56%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.28 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given 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 2.69%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.