VestGen Advisors LLC Sells 2,257 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. $APD

VestGen Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 20.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,741 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,257 shares during the period. VestGen Advisors LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $2,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in APD. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 277.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,161,451 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,597,451,000 after purchasing an additional 28,050,956 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the 2nd quarter worth $5,370,093,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,443,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,290,801,000 after buying an additional 556,188 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 326.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,348,573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $927,010,000 after buying an additional 2,563,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aristotle Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.5% in the first quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC now owns 2,683,883 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $779,665,000 after acquiring an additional 14,262 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $311.20 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $293.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $289.49. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $229.11 and a fifty-two week high of $314.87. The firm has a market cap of $69.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -1,414.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.13. Air Products and Chemicals had a positive return on equity of 16.87% and a negative net margin of 0.38%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.09 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 13.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 8th. Investors of record on Monday, January 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 4th. This represents a $7.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -3,290.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on APD. KeyCorp began coverage on Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $336.00 to $305.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Monday, October 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $353.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $333.88.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc is a global industrial gas and related equipment company serving customers in industries such as refining, chemicals, manufacturing, metals, electronics, food and beverage, healthcare, and energy. The company supplies atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, specialty gases and other industrial gases.

Air Products produces and distributes gases through pipelines, on-site facilities, bulk deliveries and packaged-gas systems.