Krane Funds Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 69.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 523 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,186 shares during the period. Air Products and Chemicals makes up about 0.1% of Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of APD. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 151.3% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 24,881 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,028,000 after purchasing an additional 14,981 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 67,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,355,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321 shares during the last quarter. Woodstock Corp raised its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 38,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,605,000 after purchasing an additional 2,387 shares during the period. Trilogy Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the first quarter worth about $2,625,000. Finally, FORA Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 13.0% during the first quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 33,823 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,194,000 after buying an additional 3,881 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on APD shares. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $308.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $291.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $310.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $320.24.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $328.81 on Friday. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a one year low of $212.24 and a one year high of $329.03. The company has a market capitalization of $73.10 billion, a PE ratio of 29.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $288.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $267.87.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.16. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 21.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. Research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.