Klingman & Associates LLC Sells 60 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Klingman & Associates LLC lessened its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 60 shares during the period. Klingman & Associates LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Mcdonald Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 4,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 7,482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,170,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. now owns 15,793 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,581,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 533 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 44.2% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 4,804 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on APD. Barclays raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $315.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $350.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $339.94.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 0.0 %

APD stock opened at $316.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $308.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $304.19. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $225.26 and a 52 week high of $341.14. The company has a market capitalization of $70.50 billion, a PE ratio of 18.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.85.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.13 by ($0.27). Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 15.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $1.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This is an increase from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is 41.11%.

Insider Activity at Air Products and Chemicals

In related news, insider Wilbur Mok sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.88, for a total transaction of $410,644.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,008,604.84. This represents a 28.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.46, for a total transaction of $1,419,570.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,502,560.58. This represents a 23.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,411 shares of company stock worth $4,186,642. Corporate insiders own 0.41% 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.