GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases 314 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 8.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,238 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $1,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,485,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,231,560,000 after buying an additional 207,404 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 6,663,154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,932,581,000 after buying an additional 64,960 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 129.4% during 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 buying an additional 3,062,157 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,931,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,430,354,000 after buying an additional 57,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mantle Ridge LP acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the 4th quarter worth about $1,191,344,000. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $335.00 to $324.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $373.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $330.00 to $282.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.41.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of APD opened at $282.68 on Monday. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.69 and a 12 month high of $341.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $274.48 and its 200-day moving average is $290.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.91 billion, a PE ratio of 41.09, a P/E/G ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 12.76% and a return on equity of 15.48%. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be paid a $1.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.07%.

Air Products and Chemicals Company Profile

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.