Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Position Reduced by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 262,188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 54,832 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.12% of Air Products and Chemicals worth $76,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in APD. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 buying an additional 207,404 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 88,806 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 4th quarter valued at about $919,721,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $885,371,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.5% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 30,888 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on APD shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays raised Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $315.00 to $365.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. One 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $341.47.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Melissa N. Schaeffer sold 3,233 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 23.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Wilbur Mok sold 1,300 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.88, for a total value of $410,644.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,193 shares in the company, valued at $1,008,604.84. The trade was a 28.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock worth $4,842,604. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

NYSE:APD opened at $295.40 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $312.18 and its 200-day moving average is $308.82. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $227.53 and a 52-week high of $341.14. The company has a market cap of $65.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.85.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $1.79 dividend. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This is a positive change from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. Air Products and Chemicals’s 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.