Xponance Inc. Purchases 1,122 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,886 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,122 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $9,538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,874,347 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,448,570,000 after purchasing an additional 88,806 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter worth about $885,371,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,088,449 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $605,734,000 after purchasing an additional 30,888 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,867,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $555,967,000 after purchasing an additional 70,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,633,381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $486,343,000 after purchasing an additional 19,209 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on APD. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $350.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 27th. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $342.65.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Walter L. Nelson sold 589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.50, for a total transaction of $181,706.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $221,811.50. The trade was a 45.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Wilbur Mok sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.88, for a total transaction of $410,644.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,008,604.84. The trade was a 28.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,842,604 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:APD opened at $291.56 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $64.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $312.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $308.34.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 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%. Research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $1.79 per share. This is an increase from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is presently 41.58%.

Air Products and Chemicals Company 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.