Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Holdings Cut by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lowered its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD - Free Report) by 41.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,200 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 38,371 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC's holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $16,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,485,176 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,231,560,000 after buying an additional 207,404 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,931,661 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,430,354,000 after buying an additional 57,314 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 4th quarter worth $919,721,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter valued at about $885,371,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on APD. Sanford C. Bernstein raised 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. UBS Group cut their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $395.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $365.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $338.24.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 1.5 %

Air Products and Chemicals stock traded up $3.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $265.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 281,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,493,035. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $59.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.89. The stock's fifty day moving average is $299.42 and its 200 day moving average is $307.81. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $227.53 and a 1-year high of $341.14.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD - Get Free Report) last released 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.79 per share. 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 yield of 2.69%. Air Products and Chemicals's payout ratio is 41.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, CFO Melissa N. Schaeffer sold 3,233 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.32, for a total transaction of $993,565.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,680 shares in the company, valued at $3,282,177.60. The trade was a 23.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Kurt Lefevere sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.17, for a total value of $474,255.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 15,500 shares of company stock worth $4,842,604 in the last quarter. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.