Ballentine Partners LLC Sells 1,602 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Ballentine Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 21.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,761 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,602 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $1,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank purchased a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the 3rd quarter worth $376,000. Eos Management L.P. increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Eos Management L.P. now owns 27,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,545,000 after buying an additional 5,727 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 65,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,850,000 after buying an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,177,000. Finally, Zenyatta Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Zenyatta Capital Management LP now owns 22,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,024,000 after acquiring an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $275.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Argus downgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $287.29.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

NYSE APD traded down $0.23 on Monday, hitting $272.68. The stock had a trading volume of 47,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,682,164. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $256.33 and a 200-day moving average of $251.74. The company has a market capitalization of $60.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.84. 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 52-week low of $212.24 and a 52-week high of $307.71.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 20.32%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.3 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 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is 63.90%.

Air Products and Chemicals Company Profile

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.