Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 441,542 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 61.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 277,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 441,542 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $80,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of APD. Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 15,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,475 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $248,000. Fullcircle Wealth LLC bought a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the 4th quarter worth $215,000. FWL Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 5,734 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,663,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 441,677 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $128,104,000 after acquiring an additional 52,459 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on APD. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $355.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $282.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $330.38.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE APD opened at $271.05 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $279.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $301.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.69 and a 1 year high of $341.14. The firm has a market cap of $60.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.88.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.14). Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 15.78%. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.85 EPS. Air Products and Chemicals’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $616,896.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,173,204. The trade was a 34.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Melissa N. Schaeffer sold 3,233 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.32, for a total transaction of $993,565.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,282,177.60. This represents a 23.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,423,034. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.