Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. $APD Shares Bought by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,609,936 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,137 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $467,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,912,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the period. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.8% in the first quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 6,660 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,935,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.3% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 30,747 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,932,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. S&CO Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.4% during the first quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 94,428 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,430,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the first quarter worth about $15,241,000. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $344.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group increased their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $307.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Melissa N. Schaeffer sold 2,714 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.76, for a total transaction of $824,404.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,317,037.12. This trade represents a 16.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of APD stock opened at $296.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $289.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $284.35. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a one year low of $229.11 and a one year high of $314.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.06 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 16.91%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. Air Products and Chemicals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-13.250 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.250-3.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 13.22 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be issued a $1.81 dividend. This represents a $7.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.61%.

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.