Horizon Investments LLC Increases Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Horizon Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,378 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $2,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APD. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.8% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 32,297 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,616,000 after buying an additional 1,177 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the third quarter worth approximately $207,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.4% during the third quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,983 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 5.9% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 36,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,757,000 after acquiring an additional 2,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chesapeake Wealth Management increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.7% during the third quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 2,189 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $652,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $616,896.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,173,204. The trade was a 34.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Walter L. Nelson sold 589 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.50, for a total value of $181,706.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $221,811.50. This trade represents a 45.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,842,604 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 1.4 %

APD opened at $291.56 on Wednesday. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.53 and a 12 month high of $341.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $312.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $308.34.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its 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 return on equity of 15.78% and a net margin of 31.88%. Sell-side analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. This is an increase from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is 41.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on APD. StockNews.com cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $320.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays raised Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $315.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $350.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $342.65.

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.