Waverly Advisors LLC Buys 13,620 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Waverly Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 304.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,093 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,620 shares during the quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $5,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter valued at about $715,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 106.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,494 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,914,000 after acquiring an additional 6,952 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 4,804 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,473 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 53,274 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $15,452,000 after acquiring an additional 2,164 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 118.2% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,332 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $330.00 to $282.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. BNP Paribas raised Air Products and Chemicals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $355.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $330.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Walter L. Nelson sold 589 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.50, for a total value of $181,706.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kurt Lefevere sold 1,500 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.17, for a total value of $474,255.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,240.54. This represents a 50.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $275.79 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $61.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.88. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.69 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $275.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $299.56.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 15.78% and a net margin of 31.88%. The company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.85 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.