SpiderRock Advisors LLC Purchases 173 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

SpiderRock Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,478 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $5,800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of APD. Norden Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 1,785 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 29.8% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 12,772 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,094,000 after buying an additional 2,929 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 4.5% in the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 1,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 280.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,958,000 after acquiring an additional 8,998 shares during the period. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 67.4% in the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 45,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,072,000 after acquiring an additional 18,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on APD shares. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $330.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI raised Air Products and Chemicals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $305.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.00.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of APD opened at $312.94 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $301.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $276.93. The stock has a market cap of $69.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.81. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a one year low of $212.24 and a one year high of $332.42.

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

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.