Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) Price Target Lowered to $335.00 at UBS Group

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) had its price target cut by UBS Group from $370.00 to $335.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on APD. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $373.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BNP Paribas upgraded Air Products and Chemicals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $330.00 to $282.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $332.18.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of APD stock opened at $265.45 on Tuesday. Air Products and Chemicals has a 12 month low of $227.53 and a 12 month high of $341.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.06 billion, a PE ratio of 15.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $295.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $307.20.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by ($0.27). Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 15.78% and a net margin of 31.88%. Analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals will post 12.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.79 per share. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. This is a positive change from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.58%.

Insider Activity at Air Products and Chemicals

In other news, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.46, for a total value of $1,419,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,502,560.58. The trade was a 23.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $616,896.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $1,173,204. This represents a 34.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,842,604. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Air Products and Chemicals

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mantle Ridge LP purchased a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter worth about $1,191,344,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter worth $919,721,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 129.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,429,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,574,670,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062,157 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $885,371,000. Finally, Capital International Investors purchased a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the 4th quarter worth about $436,636,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.