Findlay Park Partners LLP Sells 9,710 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Findlay Park Partners LLP cut its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD – Get Rating) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 472,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,710 shares during the period. Air Products and Chemicals makes up 1.6% of Findlay Park Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Findlay Park Partners LLP’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $145,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of APD. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 36.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,287,687 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $321,806,000 after purchasing an additional 342,982 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,442,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,529,566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,976,000 after acquiring an additional 199,867 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 204.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 271,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $63,093,000 after acquiring an additional 182,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,472,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,764,527,000 after acquiring an additional 176,222 shares during the last quarter. 82.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $335.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 6th. StockNews.com started coverage on Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Vertical Research raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 13th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $386.00 to $360.00 in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $311.63.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $271.50 on Wednesday. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $218.88 and a 12-month high of $328.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $283.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $294.60. The stock has a market cap of $60.31 billion, a PE ratio of 27.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.84.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The basic materials company reported $2.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.10. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.96% and a net margin of 16.58%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 11.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 30th. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is 71.57%.

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.