7,528 Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. $APD Shares Bought by Ascent Wealth Partners LLC

Key Points

• Ascent Wealth Partners increased its Air Products and Chemicals stake by 30.4% in the third quarter, adding 7,528 shares for a total of 32,330 shares valued at approximately $9.0 million. Institutional investors collectively own 81.66% of APD.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $333.88; individual targets range from $320 to $373.
• Air Products reported quarterly EPS of $3.47, exceeding estimates of $3.34, while revenue rose 4.6% year over year to $3.16 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.81 per share, representing a 2.4% annualized yield.

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD - Free Report) by 30.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,330 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 7,528 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $8,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. S&CO Inc. acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,733,000. Park National Corp OH boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 66.7% during the third quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 24,538 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,761,000 after purchasing an additional 9,817 shares in the last quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1,457.1% during the third quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 28,806 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $7,851,000 after purchasing an additional 26,956 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 26.7% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 57,052 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $16,573,000 after purchasing an additional 12,020 shares during the period. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 7.0% in the second quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 65,322 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $19,151,000 after purchasing an additional 4,279 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on APD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $373.00 target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $320.00 price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $333.88.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

NYSE APD opened at $307.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $68.43 billion, a PE ratio of -1,396.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.76. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $293.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $293.71. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $229.11 and a 1-year high of $314.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.34 by $0.13. Air Products and Chemicals had a positive return on equity of 16.87% and a negative net margin of 0.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.09 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Air Products and Chemicals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.390-13.490 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.550-3.650 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 13.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.81 per share. This represents a $7.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 4th. Air Products and Chemicals's payout ratio is -3,290.91%.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc is a global industrial gas and related equipment company serving customers in industries such as refining, chemicals, manufacturing, metals, electronics, food and beverage, healthcare, and energy. The company supplies atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, specialty gases and other industrial gases.

Air Products produces and distributes gases through pipelines, on-site facilities, bulk deliveries and packaged-gas systems.

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