&Partners Makes New Investment in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

&Partners bought a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 2,283 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $558,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of APD. Central Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,626 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the period. Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 1st quarter valued at $567,000. Running Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,097,000 after buying an additional 4,954 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 1st quarter valued at $421,000. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 55.1% in the 1st quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 715 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $173,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on APD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Argus cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $285.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $287.29.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 0.3 %

Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $272.91 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.67 billion, a PE ratio of 24.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $256.33 and its 200-day moving average is $251.74. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.24 and a fifty-two week high of $307.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 20.32% and a return on equity of 16.56%. Air Products and Chemicals’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.3 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st will be paid a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.90%.

About Air Products and Chemicals

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.