Markel Group Inc. Purchases 14,000 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Markel Group Inc. increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 36.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 52,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares during the quarter. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $15,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of APD. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 62.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,230,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,720,704,000 after buying an additional 4,309,040 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 4.2% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,062,859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $790,371,000 after purchasing an additional 122,676 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 29,954.1% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,894,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $861,722,000 after purchasing an additional 2,884,581 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,792,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $720,597,000 after buying an additional 1,564,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,043,099 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $608,312,000 after buying an additional 33,313 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $310.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $305.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $307.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.00.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 0.0 %

APD opened at $312.94 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.81. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a one year low of $212.24 and a one year high of $332.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $301.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $276.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported $3.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.19 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 16.53%. Analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

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.