Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Sold by Vantage Wealth

Vantage Wealth lowered its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 65,736 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 726 shares during the period. Air Products and Chemicals makes up approximately 4.1% of Vantage Wealth’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Vantage Wealth’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $19,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $861,722,000 after purchasing an additional 2,884,581 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 25.2% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,936,582 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $499,735,000 after purchasing an additional 389,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $315.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Friday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $308.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $305.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $336.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $335.65.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of APD stock opened at $329.29 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $310.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $296.47. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.24 and a twelve month high of $337.00. The company has a market capitalization of $73.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $1.79 dividend. This is an increase from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is presently 41.21%.

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.