Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Sold by Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co cut its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 4.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,398 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 907 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $5,006,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in APD. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 167.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,921,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,894,973,000 after purchasing an additional 4,330,471 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 2,931.0% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,796,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $444,352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,737,260 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,792,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $720,597,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564,169 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 50.6% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,547,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,841,000 after acquiring an additional 520,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the 1st quarter valued at about $87,173,000. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of APD stock opened at $287.27 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $273.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $258.99. The firm has a market cap of $63.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.81. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.24 and a 1-year high of $301.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 16.53%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $276.00 to $281.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $310.00 to $280.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $275.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.40.

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.