Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. $APD Shares Sold by Ledyard National Bank

Ledyard National Bank lowered its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 9.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,004 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 101 shares during the quarter. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $283,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in APD. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 8,759,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,583,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,568 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 159.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,725,762 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $508,962,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059,970 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 110.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,441,752 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $425,202,000 after acquiring an additional 756,780 shares during the period. Electron Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 251.4% during the 1st quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 311,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $91,917,000 after acquiring an additional 222,980 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the 1st quarter worth $42,661,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Air Products and Chemicals

In other news, VP Victoria Brifo sold 1,359 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.38, for a total transaction of $397,344.42. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 8,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,539,612.68. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $335.00 price objective on Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $354.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $330.00.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $244.46 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 firm has a market cap of $54.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $274.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $278.79.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.10. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 12.86%.The business had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.20 earnings per share. Air Products and Chemicals’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast 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.