Short Interest in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Decreases By 19.2%

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,540,000 shares, a decline of 19.2% from the October 15th total of 4,380,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Air Products and Chemicals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APD. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 62.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,230,051 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,720,704,000 after buying an additional 4,309,040 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,874,347 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,448,570,000 after buying an additional 88,806 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,062,859 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $790,371,000 after buying an additional 122,676 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 29,954.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,894,211 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $861,722,000 after buying an additional 2,884,581 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,792,470 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $720,597,000 after buying an additional 1,564,169 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised Air Products and Chemicals from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $305.00 to $365.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $310.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $295.00 to $364.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $329.76.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE APD traded up $1.22 on Friday, hitting $317.10. 1,113,047 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,434,932. Air Products and Chemicals has a 52-week low of $212.24 and a 52-week high of $332.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $70.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.81. The company's 50-day moving average price is $305.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $280.26.

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.