Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Purchased by Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC

Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $1,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of APD. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 32,297 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,992 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 39.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 6,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 308,329 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $91,802,000 after buying an additional 3,901 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on APD. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $342.65.

Insider Activity at Air Products and Chemicals

In other news, VP Walter L. Nelson sold 589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.50, for a total value of $181,706.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,811.50. This represents a 45.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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. Insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,842,604 over the last three months. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $291.35 on Friday. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a one year low of $227.53 and a one year high of $341.14. The company has a market cap of $64.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $313.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $308.22.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $1.79 dividend. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. This is an increase from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is 41.58%.

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.