Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 80.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 825 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,455 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the 4th quarter valued at about $962,356,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 111,211.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,640,729 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $505,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,639,255 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,414,008 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,668,923,000 after buying an additional 1,115,729 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 222.0% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 879,406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $263,407,000 after acquiring an additional 606,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1,696.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 518,197 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $142,344,000 after acquiring an additional 489,350 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on APD. TheStreet cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $260.00 to $245.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $305.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $307.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $280.29.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $242.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $53.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.81. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.24 and a 1 year high of $307.71. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $239.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $264.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.81.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.00 by ($0.18). Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 18.82%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.64 EPS. Air Products and Chemicals’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This is a positive change from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is 66.79%.

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.