Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Acquires 223 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 5.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,042 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $1,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in APD. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 62.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,230,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,720,704,000 after buying an additional 4,309,040 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 4.2% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,062,859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $790,371,000 after buying an additional 122,676 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 29,954.1% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,894,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $861,722,000 after buying an additional 2,884,581 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake 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 worth $720,597,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,043,099 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $608,312,000 after acquiring an additional 33,313 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

Shares of APD opened at $309.21 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.74 billion, a PE ratio of 26.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.82. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $298.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $274.23. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.24 and a 1-year high of $332.42.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 21.24%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $307.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $305.00 to $365.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $326.12.

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.