Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Sells 6,313 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 47.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,313 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $1,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APD. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,792,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $720,597,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564,169 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake 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 valued at $525,085,000 after acquiring an additional 5,140 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,737,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 50.6% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,547,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,841,000 after purchasing an additional 520,179 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on APD. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $291.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America lifted their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, 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 research note on Monday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.40.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:APD opened at $291.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $64.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.82. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.24 and a 12 month high of $296.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $260.12.

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

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.