Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) Upgraded to Buy at Vertical Research

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD – Get Rating) was upgraded by Vertical Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on APD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $292.00 to $340.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 7th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $339.00 to $329.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Societe Generale downgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 12th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $312.75.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of APD stock opened at $285.90 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $63.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50 day moving average is $295.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $281.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Air Products and Chemicals has a 12-month low of $216.43 and a 12-month high of $328.56.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.73 by ($0.09). Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.45% and a net margin of 17.61%. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.52 EPS. Air Products and Chemicals’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals will post 11.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Sean D. Major sold 485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.00, for a total value of $151,805.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,468,075. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Air Products and Chemicals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Covenant Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Covenant Asset Management LLC now owns 4,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,484,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 1,552 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $478,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 21.9% during the third quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 4,639 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,430,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantum Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $819,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.74% of the company’s stock.

About Air Products and Chemicals

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Air Products & Chemicals, Inc engages in the manufacture and distribution of atmospheric gases. It operates through the following segments: Industrial Gases-Americas, Industrial Gases-EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), Industrial Gases-Asia, Industrial Gases-Global, and Corporate & Other. The Industrial Gases-America, EMEA, and Asia segment markets and produces atmospheric gases, such as oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases, process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, syngas, and specialty gases and equipment for the production and processing of gases, such as air separation units and non-cryogenic generators.