Diversify Advisory Services LLC Trims Stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC lessened its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,691 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $3,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in APD. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 62.3% during the first 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. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 122,676 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,884,581 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,564,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,043,099 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $608,312,000 after purchasing an additional 33,313 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $340.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $310.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.12.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of APD stock traded down $2.65 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $315.61. 110,478 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,607,769. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.24 and a 52-week high of $332.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $295.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $272.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.16. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 21.24%. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.