Credit Agricole S A Sells 82,350 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. $APD

Key Points

• Credit Agricole S A reduced its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 59.5% during the 1st quarter, selling 82,350 shares and retaining a total of 56,084 shares valued at approximately $16.54 million.
• Air Products and Chemicals reported an EPS of $3.09 for the latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $2.99, with revenues of $3.02 billion, a 1.2% increase year-over-year.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $1.79 on November 10th, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.4% with a payout ratio of over 103%.

Credit Agricole S A reduced its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD - Free Report) by 59.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,084 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 82,350 shares during the quarter. Credit Agricole S A's holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $16,540,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $715,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 20.9% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 1,603 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Mantle Ridge LP acquired a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,191,344,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,238 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,250,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 62,981 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $18,267,000 after acquiring an additional 2,453 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Victoria Brifo sold 1,359 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.38, for a total transaction of $397,344.42. Following the sale, the vice president owned 8,686 shares in the company, valued at $2,539,612.68. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on APD shares. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $355.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $335.07.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 1.9%

NYSE APD traded up $5.4990 during trading on Friday, hitting $299.0190. The stock had a trading volume of 765,247 shares, compared to its average volume of 930,976. The company has a market capitalization of $66.55 billion, a PE ratio of 43.02, a P/E/G ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 0.81. The company's 50-day moving average price is $288.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $286.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.29. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 12.86%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.20 EPS. Air Products and Chemicals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.900-12.100 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 3.270-3.470 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $1.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Air Products and Chemicals's payout ratio is presently 103.02%.

Air Products and Chemicals Company 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.