Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Sold by Congress Asset Management Co.

Congress Asset Management Co. cut its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,199 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 948 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $655,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of APD. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 62.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,230,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,720,704,000 after acquiring an additional 4,309,040 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,062,859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $790,371,000 after purchasing an additional 122,676 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 29,954.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,894,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $861,722,000 after buying an additional 2,884,581 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,792,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $720,597,000 after buying an additional 1,564,169 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,043,099 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,312,000 after buying an additional 33,313 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE APD opened at $309.21 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $274.23. The company has a market cap of $68.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.82. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.24 and a 12 month high of $332.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 16.53%. Sell-side analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $340.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $291.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $307.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $364.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $326.12.

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.