Colonial Trust Co SC Raises Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD - Free Report) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,363 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 2,486 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC's holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $6,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 770,529 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $229,418,000 after purchasing an additional 14,067 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 3,112 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $903,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 71.1% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,571 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares during the period. InvesTrust purchased a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter valued at $7,552,000. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 239,987 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $69,606,000 after purchasing an additional 22,610 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 0.5 %

Air Products and Chemicals stock traded up $1.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $271.05. 913,095 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,483,608. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $279.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $301.67. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.69 and a fifty-two week high of $341.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.88.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.14). Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 15.78% and a net margin of 31.88%. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.85 EPS. The business's revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Air Products and Chemicals

In related news, VP Walter L. Nelson sold 589 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.50, for a total transaction of $181,706.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 719 shares of the company's stock, valued at $221,811.50. This represents a 45.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Melissa N. Schaeffer sold 3,233 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.32, for a total transaction of $993,565.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,282,177.60. This represents a 23.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,423,034 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on APD. UBS Group decreased their target price on 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. StockNews.com cut Air Products and Chemicals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of 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. Citigroup cut their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $373.00 to $345.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $282.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $330.38.

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.