Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Acquired by Ledyard National Bank

Ledyard National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,940 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the quarter. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $581,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 90,916.9% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 24,671,052 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,389,720,000 after purchasing an additional 24,643,946 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $962,356,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 111,211.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,640,729 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $505,771,000 after buying an additional 1,639,255 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,414,008 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,668,923,000 after buying an additional 1,115,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 240.0% in the first quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,284,750 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $369,009,000 after acquiring an additional 906,916 shares during the period. 82.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on APD shares. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $330.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $328.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $310.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, CEO Seifi Ghasemi acquired 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $264.42 per share, for a total transaction of $2,908,620.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 670,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $177,339,354.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

NYSE APD traded down $0.89 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $272.73. The stock had a trading volume of 179,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 925,651. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $284.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $286.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $60.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.86. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $251.63 and a 52-week high of $328.56.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported $3.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 17.02% and a net margin of 18.26%. The business’s revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.89 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 2nd 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 2.57%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is currently 67.83%.

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; specialty gases; and equipment for the production or processing of gases comprising air separation units and non-cryogenic generators for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, magnetic resonance imaging, energy production, medical, food, and metals.