Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Holdings Decreased by Ancora Advisors LLC

Ancora Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 29,406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 237 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $8,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of APD. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 85.1% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,514 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,939,000 after buying an additional 2,995 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 770,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $229,418,000 after purchasing an additional 14,067 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,138,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 3,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $903,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Walter L. Nelson sold 589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.50, for a total transaction of $181,706.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $221,811.50. This trade represents a 45.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Wilbur Mok sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.88, for a total value of $410,644.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,008,604.84. This trade represents a 28.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,842,604 in the last 90 days. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 2.0 %

Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $277.54 on Friday. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.69 and a fifty-two week high of $341.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $283.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $303.77.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 15.78% and a net margin of 31.88%. Air Products and Chemicals’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on APD. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $282.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $355.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $320.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $330.38.

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.