JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) Price Target to $345.00

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) had its price objective reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $350.00 to $345.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $310.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $308.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $291.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.00.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE APD traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $312.99. The stock had a trading volume of 2,585,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,618,957. The firm has a market cap of $69.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.81. Air Products and Chemicals has a twelve month low of $212.24 and a twelve month high of $332.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $301.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $276.93.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.19 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 16.53%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Air Products and Chemicals

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

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.