Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Purchased by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 7.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 180,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 12,650 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.08% of Air Products and Chemicals worth $53,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,775 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after buying an additional 2,352 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 243,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $70,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,239 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 3,141 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $722,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on APD. Barclays reduced their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $355.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $328.00 to $344.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $334.75.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

APD stock opened at $287.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.69 and a 52-week high of $341.14. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $284.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.65.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.99 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 15.48% and a net margin of 12.76%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.20 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.