Berry Wealth Group LP Lowers Position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Berry Wealth Group LP lessened its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 478 shares during the period. Air Products and Chemicals accounts for approximately 2.0% of Berry Wealth Group LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Berry Wealth Group LP’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $2,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in APD. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $574,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BCGM Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,453 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. Bank of America downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $282.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group lowered their target price on 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, Citigroup lowered their target price on 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $332.41.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE APD opened at $273.29 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $291.66. The stock has a market cap of $60.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.72, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.86. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.69 and a 12-month high of $341.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 15.48% and a net margin of 12.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.85 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.07%.

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.