Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Bought by Eastern Bank

Eastern Bank grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 74,607 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,046 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $22,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 62.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,230,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,720,704,000 after acquiring an additional 4,309,040 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,062,859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $790,371,000 after purchasing an additional 122,676 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,792,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $720,597,000 after buying an additional 1,564,169 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,043,099 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $608,312,000 after purchasing an additional 33,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 0.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,034,818 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $525,085,000 after acquiring an additional 5,140 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on APD. 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $323.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $308.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $307.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $320.82.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE APD traded down $1.83 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $329.73. 403,514 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,617,431. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $73.30 billion, a PE ratio of 29.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.82. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.24 and a 52 week high of $332.42. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $290.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $269.55.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.16. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 21.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current 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.