Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) CFO Melissa N. Schaeffer Sells 3,233 Shares of Stock

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) CFO Melissa N. Schaeffer sold 3,233 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.32, for a total value of $993,565.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,282,177.60. The trade was a 23.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE APD opened at $309.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $309.32 and a 200 day moving average of $302.26. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $216.30 and a 1 year high of $341.14. The stock has a market cap of $68.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.13 by ($0.27). Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 15.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. This is an increase from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is currently 41.11%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Air Products and Chemicals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APD. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 207,404 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,874,347 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,448,570,000 after purchasing an additional 88,806 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter valued at $885,371,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 29,954.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,884,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,088,449 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $605,734,000 after acquiring an additional 30,888 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 a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Redburn Atlantic raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $330.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup raised their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered Air Products and Chemicals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $339.94.

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.