Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) Price Target Raised to $344.00

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at UBS Group from $328.00 to $344.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the basic materials company's stock. UBS Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 17.34% from the company's current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $355.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $355.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $282.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.12.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

Shares of APD traded up $0.82 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $293.17. 99,482 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,364,743. The stock has a market cap of $65.24 billion, a PE ratio of 42.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $277.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.26. Air Products and Chemicals has a 12 month low of $243.69 and a 12 month high of $341.14.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 12.76% and a return on equity of 15.48%. The business's revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.85 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals will post 12.69 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Air Products and Chemicals

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,485,176 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,231,560,000 after buying an additional 207,404 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 31.5% during the first quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 8,759,722 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,583,417,000 after buying an additional 2,096,568 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 129.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,429,147 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,574,670,000 after buying an additional 3,062,157 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,931,661 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,430,354,000 after buying an additional 57,314 shares during the period. Finally, Mantle Ridge LP purchased a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,191,344,000. 81.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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