West Oak Capital LLC Raises Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

West Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 265 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $2,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 167.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,921,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,894,973,000 after buying an additional 4,330,471 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,302,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,502,717,000 after acquiring an additional 235,037 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $852,288,000. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,931,619 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $528,877,000 after acquiring an additional 66,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,508,625 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $413,078,000 after acquiring an additional 168,959 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on APD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $285.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $287.29.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of APD stock traded up $3.58 on Tuesday, reaching $250.92. The stock had a trading volume of 2,832,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,785,854. The stock has a market cap of $55.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.49. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $259.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $251.54. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.24 and a 1 year high of $307.71.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $0.15. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.74 earnings per share. Air Products and Chemicals’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.3 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is 63.90%.

Air Products and Chemicals 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.