Bridges Investment Management Inc. Purchases 228 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,792 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of APD. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 69.4% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 105 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on APD. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $350.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 report on Friday, February 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $315.00 to $365.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $343.53.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of APD stock opened at $316.55 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.85. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.53 and a 12-month high of $341.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $310.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $306.15.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released 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 return on equity of 15.78% and a net margin of 31.88%. Equities research analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. This is a positive change from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $616,896.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,173,204. The trade was a 34.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 stock was sold at an average price of $316.17, for a total value of $474,255.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,240.54. The trade was a 50.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 14,911 shares of company stock worth $4,660,897. Corporate 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.