First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,476 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 238 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $3,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of APD. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 29,954.1% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,894,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $861,722,000 after purchasing an additional 2,884,581 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 240.7% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 1,023,433 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $304,717,000 after buying an additional 723,019 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 318.7% in the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 948,723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $282,473,000 after buying an additional 722,132 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 1,685.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 764,489 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $249,698,000 after buying an additional 721,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 29,957.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 718,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,138,000,000 after buying an additional 715,686 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

APD opened at $329.29 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $310.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $296.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $73.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.84. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.24 and a 12-month high of $337.00.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $1.79 dividend. This is an increase from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is 41.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised Air Products and Chemicals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $305.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Redburn Atlantic raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $330.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays raised Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $315.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $335.65.

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.