Beacon Financial Group Has $4.93 Million Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Beacon Financial Group decreased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 9.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,730 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,674 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Group’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $4,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,194 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 2,257 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $655,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,478 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 10,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on APD shares. Bank of America downgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $282.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $373.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Air Products and Chemicals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $335.00 to $324.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $331.00.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:APD opened at $280.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $62.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.88. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.69 and a 52-week high of $341.14. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $271.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $296.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.11.

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

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 104.07%.

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.