Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Sold by Cypress Capital Group

Cypress Capital Group lowered its position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD - Free Report) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,585 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 953 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group's holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $1,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 2,532 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,288,570 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $373,737,000 after acquiring an additional 39,428 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 85,483 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $24,794,000 after acquiring an additional 3,990 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,181 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $632,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 1,808 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $375.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays raised 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 note on Friday, January 24th. 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 for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $343.53.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:APD traded up $6.35 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $311.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,285,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,671,229. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $69.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.85. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $310.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $306.65.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD - Get Free Report) 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 EPS 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 given a $1.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. This is an increase from Air Products and Chemicals's previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. Air Products and Chemicals's payout ratio is presently 41.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Melissa N. Schaeffer sold 3,233 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.32, for a total value of $993,565.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,282,177.60. This represents a 23.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Kurt Lefevere sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.17, for a total transaction of $474,255.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,462 shares in the company, valued at $462,240.54. This trade represents a 50.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,911 shares of company stock valued at $4,660,897. 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.