Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Receives $332.18 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $332.18.

A number of research firms have commented on APD. StockNews.com lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $330.00 to $282.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $365.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st.

Insider Transactions at Air Products and Chemicals

In related news, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.46, for a total transaction of $1,419,570.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,502,560.58. The trade was a 23.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Walter L. Nelson sold 589 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.50, for a total value of $181,706.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $221,811.50. The trade was a 45.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,842,604 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Air Products and Chemicals

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Generali Investments Management Co LLC purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 69.4% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 105 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE APD opened at $271.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $60.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.89. Air Products and Chemicals has a twelve month low of $228.81 and a twelve month high of $341.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business’s fifty day moving average is $285.90 and its 200 day moving average is $304.65.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.13 by ($0.27). Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 15.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals will post 12.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.