Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 54,832 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

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

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of APD. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.0% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 16,844 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,015,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 8.0% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 14.8% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,469 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the 3rd quarter worth $285,000. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APD has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut Air Products and Chemicals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $350.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $315.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised 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 note on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $341.47.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE:APD opened at $295.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $312.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $308.82. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $227.53 and a fifty-two week high of $341.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.72 billion, a PE ratio of 17.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.85.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share 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 paid a $1.79 dividend. 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. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Walter L. Nelson sold 589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.50, for a total value of $181,706.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $221,811.50. The trade was a 45.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $616,896.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,173,204. This trade represents a 34.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,500 shares of company stock worth $4,842,604 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

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.