Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Acquired by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60,555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $17,563,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APD. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $885,371,000. Sachem Head Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals during the third quarter worth approximately $163,013,000. TOMS Capital Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals during the third quarter worth approximately $159,886,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $71,307,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 25.2% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,165,733 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $350,139,000 after buying an additional 234,322 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on APD. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $315.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $320.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $342.65.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Down 0.5 %

APD stock opened at $291.35 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $227.53 and a 1 year high of $341.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $313.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $308.22. The firm has a market cap of $64.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.92, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.85.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $1.79 per share. This is a positive change from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is currently 41.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.46, for a total transaction of $1,419,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,502,560.58. The trade was a 23.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kurt Lefevere sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.17, for a total transaction of $474,255.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,240.54. This represents a 50.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,842,604 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Company 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.