MV Capital Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

MV Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,079 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the quarter. MV Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $2,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Applied Capital LLC FL lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 76.7% during the 1st quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 3,927 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2,250.0% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 141 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 3,267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $791,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 1,294 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on APD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. TD Cowen increased their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho decreased their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $275.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $287.29.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

APD stock traded up $3.66 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $251.00. 2,785,818 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,785,484. The company has a market cap of $55.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $259.98 and its 200 day moving average is $251.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 1.31. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.24 and a 12-month high of $307.71.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 20.32%. Air Products and Chemicals’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.3 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.90%.

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.