Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Sold by Anchor Investment Management LLC

Anchor Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 3.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,162 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 68 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 62.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 4,309,040 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2,931.0% in the second 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 buying an additional 1,737,260 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% during 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 boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 50.6% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,547,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,841,000 after acquiring an additional 520,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 1st quarter worth $87,173,000. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE:APD opened at $285.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $63.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $280.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $262.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.24 and a 52 week high of $302.03.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on APD. Bank of America increased their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $275.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $340.00 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 decreased their price objective for the stock from $310.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.50.

Air Products and Chemicals 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.