Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Invests $362,000 in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,215 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the 4th quarter valued at $1,525,000. Vicus Capital purchased a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the 1st quarter valued at about $321,000. Founders Financial Securities LLC lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 140.6% in the 1st quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 1,464 shares in the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,625,000. Finally, Chapin Davis Inc. lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 67.3% in the 1st quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 6,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,457,000 after purchasing an additional 2,420 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APD has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $295.00 to $364.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $291.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $307.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.12.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Down 1.3 %

APD stock traded down $4.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $318.02. 1,294,777 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,617,042. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $294.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $271.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.24 and a twelve month high of $332.42. The company has a market capitalization of $70.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.82.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.16. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 16.53%. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Profile

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.