Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Buys 350 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 28.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 10,772 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,207,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,793 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,725,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 2,411 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,888 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,072,000 after buying an additional 3,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,981,000 after buying an additional 1,064 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on APD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BNP Paribas upgraded Air Products and Chemicals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $315.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $350.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $339.94.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

NYSE APD opened at $309.17 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $308.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $305.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.53 and a 12-month high of $341.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 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 earnings per share (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%. Analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.79 per share. 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 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is presently 41.11%.

Insider Transactions at Air Products and Chemicals

In related news, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,273 shares in the company, valued at $4,502,560.58. The trade was a 23.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $616,896.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,173,204. This represents a 34.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,911 shares of company stock worth $4,660,897. Company 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.