Cullen Investment Group LTD. Grows Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 0.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $5,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 151.3% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 24,881 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,028,000 after purchasing an additional 14,981 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.6% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 67,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,355,000 after acquiring an additional 2,321 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,625,000. FORA Capital LLC raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 33,823 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,194,000 after acquiring an additional 3,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 140.1% in the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 39,164 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,488,000 after purchasing an additional 22,850 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on APD. UBS Group lifted their price objective on 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 price target on shares of 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $275.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Barclays raised their target price 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $310.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.50.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE:APD traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $285.50. 924,756 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,613,907. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.24 and a fifty-two week high of $302.03. The company has a market capitalization of $63.47 billion, a PE ratio of 25.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $280.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $262.92.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

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

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.