Uncommon Cents Investing LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Uncommon Cents Investing LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $962,356,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 111,211.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,640,729 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $505,771,000 after buying an additional 1,639,255 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,414,008 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,668,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,729 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 222.0% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 879,406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $263,407,000 after purchasing an additional 606,280 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1,696.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 518,197 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $142,344,000 after purchasing an additional 489,350 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on APD. TheStreet downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Argus downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $305.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $280.29.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:APD traded down $0.73 on Thursday, reaching $242.37. 1,439,901 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,840,263. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.81. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.24 and a fifty-two week high of $307.71. The business’s 50-day moving average is $239.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $264.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 18.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.38 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. This is a boost from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is 66.79%.

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.