Peak Financial Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Peak Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,704 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,862,000. Air Products and Chemicals accounts for 1.5% of Peak Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Apella Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the first quarter worth about $251,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Spring Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Spring Capital Management LLC now owns 18,843 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,557,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 3,919 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,156,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 14.8% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $833,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on APD shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $355.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $335.00 to $324.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $282.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $373.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $331.00.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 1.7%

NYSE:APD opened at $283.49 on Wednesday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $271.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $296.95. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.69 and a twelve month high of $341.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.88.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.69 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.85 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.79 per share. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is presently 104.07%.

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.