SlateStone Wealth LLC Reduces Stock Position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

SlateStone Wealth LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 26.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,054 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $6,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Eos Management L.P. lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Eos Management L.P. now owns 27,558 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,545,000 after purchasing an additional 5,727 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 151.3% in 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 in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 67,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,355,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 351,506 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $96,242,000 after purchasing an additional 5,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trilogy Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,625,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $291.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $276.00 to $281.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $310.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.40.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of APD traded up $2.98 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $278.84. The stock had a trading volume of 1,058,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,678,862. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.31. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.24 and a 12 month high of $307.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.99 billion, a PE ratio of 25.17, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $267.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $253.08.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.16. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 21.24%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. Analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.29 EPS for the current 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 given a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is 63.90%.

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.