Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 45,016 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 561,441 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 45,016 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $162,840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ledyard National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 1,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 28,167 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,170,000 after acquiring an additional 2,781 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 3,074 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $888,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 4,265 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on APD. Barclays raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $315.00 to $365.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $330.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets cut Air Products and Chemicals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $375.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $339.94.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

NYSE APD opened at $310.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.85. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.80 and a 1-year high of $341.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $310.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $300.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.13 by ($0.27). Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.34% and a net margin of 31.64%. On average, research analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $1.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. This is a positive change from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.21%.

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.