Mathes Company Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Mathes Company Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,279 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 731 shares during the quarter. Mathes Company Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $2,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of APD. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 22.3% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 71,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,200,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the third quarter valued at approximately $249,000. Stratos Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 19.8% in the third quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 950 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $283,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 57.1% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,276 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $616,896.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,173,204. The trade was a 34.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.46, for a total value of $1,419,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,502,560.58. The trade was a 23.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,749 shares of company stock valued at $3,030,032. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on APD. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $330.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $315.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $375.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $339.94.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

APD stock opened at $316.74 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $308.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $303.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $70.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.85. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $220.26 and a 52-week high of $341.14.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted 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 return on equity of 15.78% and a net margin of 31.88%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $1.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This is a boost from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is presently 41.11%.

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.