Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD – Get Rating) by 254.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,208 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,506 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $4,860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,964,806 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,989,404,000 after purchasing an additional 326,891 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 14,555,663 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,637,608,000 after purchasing an additional 259,383 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,829,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,621,573,000 after purchasing an additional 292,013 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,085,969 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $982,594,000 after purchasing an additional 21,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Investment Fund increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 269.2% in the 2nd quarter. Public Investment Fund now owns 2,685,331 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $645,768,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957,991 shares during the period. 82.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities analysts have issued reports on APD shares. Berenberg Bank decreased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $260.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $339.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 22nd. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $272.00 to $251.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $292.00 to $340.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $303.88.
Air Products and Chemicals Stock Down 0.0 %
Shares of NYSE APD opened at $325.12 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $72.13 billion, a PE ratio of 32.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.85. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $216.24 and a 12-month high of $328.56. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $277.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $257.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.
Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 3rd. The basic materials company reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.12. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 17.77% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The business had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.51 earnings per share. Air Products and Chemicals’s revenue was up 25.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 11.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 3rd will be paid a $1.62 dividend. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 30th. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.91%.
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; specialty gases; and equipment for the production or processing of gases comprising air separation units and non-cryogenic generators for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, magnetic resonance imaging, energy production, medical, food, and metals.
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