Fiduciary Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Fiduciary Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,053 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the first quarter worth $1,089,000. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 4.3% during the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 2,141 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 8.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,238 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.6% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 4,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.7% during the first quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 119,087 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,121,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $355.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $330.00 to $282.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $373.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $335.00 to $324.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $290.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $331.00.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE APD opened at $281.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $62.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.86. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.69 and a 52-week high of $341.14. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $270.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $295.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

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

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $1.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is presently 104.07%.

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.