Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Sold by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,561 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,688 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $7,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 69.4% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 105 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on APD. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered 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 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $343.53.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of APD traded down $5.84 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $310.31. The company had a trading volume of 1,213,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,655,316. 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 quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $310.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $306.15. The stock has a market cap of $69.04 billion, a PE ratio of 18.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.85.

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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.79 per share. This is an increase from Air Products and Chemicals's previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Air Products and Chemicals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Air Products and Chemicals

In other news, insider Wilbur Mok sold 1,300 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.88, for a total transaction of $410,644.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,193 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,008,604.84. The trade was a 28.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.46, for a total value of $1,419,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,502,560.58. This represents a 23.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,911 shares of company stock valued at $4,660,897 over the last 90 days. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.