Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Purchased by Jmac Enterprises LLC

Jmac Enterprises LLC boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,838 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 729 shares during the quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $1,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 valued at $861,722,000 after acquiring an additional 2,884,581 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 240.7% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 1,023,433 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $304,717,000 after purchasing an additional 723,019 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 318.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 948,723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $282,473,000 after purchasing an additional 722,132 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1,685.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 764,489 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $249,698,000 after purchasing an additional 721,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 29,957.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 718,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,138,000,000 after purchasing an additional 715,686 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on APD. BMO Capital Markets lowered Air Products and Chemicals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $315.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $339.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Air Products and Chemicals

In other news, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.46, for a total transaction of $1,419,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,502,560.58. The trade was a 23.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $616,896.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $1,173,204. This trade represents a 34.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,749 shares of company stock valued at $3,030,032 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

APD stock opened at $309.50 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $309.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $302.26. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.30 and a 12-month high of $341.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $68.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.85.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.13 by ($0.27). Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 15.78% and a net margin of 31.88%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.77 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This is a positive change from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is 41.11%.

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.