BNP Paribas Acquires 4,365 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

BNP Paribas lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD - Free Report) by 58.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,802 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,365 shares during the period. BNP Paribas' holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $3,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in APD. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 411,007 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $119,214,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 343.9% in the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,030 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,359,000 after buying an additional 11,644 shares during the period. Aspire Growth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter worth $697,000. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC bought a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the 4th quarter valued at $17,781,000. Finally, Albar Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the 4th quarter worth $37,420,000. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company's stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

APD stock traded down $3.15 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $264.47. 1,379,198 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,482,587. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.69 and a twelve month high of $341.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $58.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $281.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $302.78.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 15.78%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.85 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APD has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $335.00 to $324.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $282.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $355.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $330.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.46, for a total transaction of $1,419,570.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,502,560.58. This trade represents a 23.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $616,896.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,173,204. This represents a 34.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,842,604 over the last ninety days. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Air Products and Chemicals 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.