Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Bought by Copperleaf Capital LLC

Copperleaf Capital LLC increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Copperleaf Capital LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $961,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,874,347 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,448,570,000 after buying an additional 88,806 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $861,722,000 after buying an additional 2,884,581 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,043,099 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $608,312,000 after buying an additional 33,313 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,867,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $555,967,000 after buying an additional 70,759 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,633,381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $486,343,000 after purchasing an additional 19,209 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on APD shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $320.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $339.94.

Insider Transactions at Air Products and Chemicals

In other news, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $616,896.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $1,173,204. The trade was a 34.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.46, for a total transaction of $1,419,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,502,560.58. This trade represents a 23.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,749 shares of company stock worth $3,030,032 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of APD stock opened at $316.74 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $308.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $303.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.85. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.26 and a fifty-two week high of $341.14.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.13 by ($0.27). Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 15.78% and a net margin of 31.88%. Research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.77 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.79 per share. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This is a positive change from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is currently 41.11%.

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.