Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Purchased by Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group

Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group raised its position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,613 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $1,448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of APD. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 62.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,230,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,720,704,000 after acquiring an additional 4,309,040 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,062,859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $790,371,000 after purchasing an additional 122,676 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,564,169 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,034,818 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $525,085,000 after buying an additional 5,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 25.2% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,936,582 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $499,735,000 after buying an additional 389,380 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 2.1 %

APD opened at $291.42 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $64.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.82. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.24 and a 52 week high of $302.03. The business’s 50 day moving average is $279.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $262.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.16. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 16.53%. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.33 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on APD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $276.00 to $281.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $323.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.50.

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.