Claro Advisors LLC Sells 480 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Claro Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,609 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 480 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $757,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in APD. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 29,954.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,894,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $861,722,000 after buying an additional 2,884,581 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,792,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $720,597,000 after buying an additional 1,564,169 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 240.7% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 1,023,433 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $304,717,000 after buying an additional 723,019 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 318.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 948,723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $282,473,000 after buying an additional 722,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1,685.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 764,489 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $249,698,000 after buying an additional 721,671 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $305.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $295.00 to $364.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Vertical Research upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $336.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $331.53.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE APD opened at $301.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.13 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.24 and a 1 year high of $337.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $309.32 and its 200-day moving average is $293.04.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.21%.

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.