Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 0.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,131,879 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,398 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.51% of Air Products and Chemicals worth $339,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Herold Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.6% in the second quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 2,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $684,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,602 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 5,261 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,622,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 180 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.3% during the first quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 2,874 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $825,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on APD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $310.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 8th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 26th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $240.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $320.31.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

NYSE APD opened at $273.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $251.63 and a 1-year high of $328.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $284.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $286.88.

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

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 2nd will be paid a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 29th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Seifi Ghasemi acquired 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $264.42 per share, with a total value of $2,908,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.