Inscription Capital LLC Takes Position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Inscription Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $490,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,485,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,231,560,000 after acquiring an additional 207,404 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 6,663,154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,932,581,000 after purchasing an additional 64,960 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 129.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,429,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,574,670,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062,157 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,931,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,430,354,000 after buying an additional 57,314 shares during the period. Finally, Mantle Ridge LP purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,191,344,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on APD. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley began 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 objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $335.00 to $324.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $373.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $332.41.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

Shares of NYSE APD opened at $277.19 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $293.39. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.69 and a fifty-two week high of $341.14. The company has a market capitalization of $61.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.29, a P/E/G ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.86.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.14). Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 12.76% and a return on equity of 15.48%. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.85 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be given a $1.79 dividend. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.07%.

Air Products and Chemicals 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.