Victory Capital Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. $APD

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 281,948 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 14,077 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Air Products and Chemicals worth $76,893,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in APD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,000,734 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,000,040,000 after acquiring an additional 260,904 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,452,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,666,289,000 after purchasing an additional 180,056 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.7% during the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 8,821,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,488,164,000 after purchasing an additional 61,678 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 5.1% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,434,228 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,814,839,000 after purchasing an additional 310,799 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,134,550 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,450,526,000 after buying an additional 27,256 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $272.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Argus cut their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $317.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $313.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.88.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

NYSE:APD opened at $276.26 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $269.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $266.77. The company has a market capitalization of $61.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -182.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.88. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $229.11 and a twelve month high of $318.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a positive return on equity of 15.77% and a negative net margin of 2.73%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.86 EPS. Air Products and Chemicals has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.100 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 12.850-13.150 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be paid a $1.81 dividend. This represents a $7.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. This is a positive change from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.79. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is presently -474.17%.

Insider Transactions at Air Products and Chemicals

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, Director Ridge Lp Mantle sold 70,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.21, for a total value of $19,944,436.75. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 93,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,573,350.79. This represents a 42.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Company Profile

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc is a global supplier of industrial gases and related equipment and services, headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company produces and delivers atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as specialty and process gases used across a wide range of industrial applications. Air Products designs, builds and operates gas production facilities, merchant distribution networks and on-site gas systems for customers that require reliable, high-purity gases and integrated supply solutions.

The company’s product and service portfolio includes packaged and bulk gas supply, pipeline distribution, on-site generation, gas handling and storage equipment, and engineered systems for gas liquefaction and purification.