Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Acquired by CWA Asset Management Group LLC

CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD – Get Rating) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,089 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,472,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,764,527,000 after acquiring an additional 176,222 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,829,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,621,573,000 after acquiring an additional 292,013 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.5% during the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,085,969 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $982,594,000 after acquiring an additional 21,569 shares during the last quarter. Public Investment Fund increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 269.2% during the second quarter. Public Investment Fund now owns 2,685,331 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $645,768,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2.0% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,950,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $469,160,000 after purchasing an additional 39,169 shares in the last quarter. 82.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $274.74 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $294.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.96, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.84. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $218.88 and a 12 month high of $328.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.73 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.27 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 17.61% and a return on equity of 16.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 11.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 3rd will be paid a $1.75 dividend. This is a boost from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.62. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 31st. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is currently 63.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Air Products and Chemicals

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, VP Sean D. Major sold 485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.00, for a total value of $151,805.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,468,075. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Societe Generale cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 12th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $330.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $394.00 to $386.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $312.75.

Air Products and Chemicals Profile

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Air Products & Chemicals, Inc engages in the manufacture and distribution of atmospheric gases. It operates through the following segments: Industrial Gases-Americas, Industrial Gases-EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), Industrial Gases-Asia, Industrial Gases-Global, and Corporate & Other. The Industrial Gases-America, EMEA, and Asia segment markets and produces atmospheric gases, such as oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases, process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, syngas, and specialty gases and equipment for the production and processing of gases, such as air separation units and non-cryogenic generators.