Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 7.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 104,328 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,329 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $25,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eos Management L.P. boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Eos Management L.P. now owns 27,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,545,000 after buying an additional 5,727 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 65,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,850,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 151.3% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 24,881 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,028,000 after purchasing an additional 14,981 shares during the period. Zenyatta Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. Zenyatta Capital Management LP now owns 22,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,024,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares during the period. Finally, Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 37.6% during the 4th quarter. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 388,474 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $106,364,000 after purchasing an additional 106,054 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on APD. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. UBS Group increased their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $257.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, 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 note on Monday, June 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.29.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 1.9 %

APD stock traded up $4.86 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $265.84. The company had a trading volume of 1,275,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,757,720. 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 market capitalization of $59.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $265.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $249.71. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.24 and a fifty-two week high of $307.71.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.74 EPS. Air Products and Chemicals’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is currently 63.90%.

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.