Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Bought by Trek Financial LLC

Trek Financial LLC grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD - Free Report) by 1,209.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,255 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 9,472 shares during the period. Trek Financial LLC's holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $3,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in APD. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,260 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter worth $246,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,831 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $821,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 958 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 312.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 198 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on APD. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $355.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Thursday, May 29th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. Bank of America cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $282.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $335.00 to $324.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $330.94.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

Shares of APD stock traded up $1.12 on Tuesday, reaching $290.14. 38,166 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,365,352. The company has a market cap of $64.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.15, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $277.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.00. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.69 and a 1 year high of $341.14.

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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 15.48% and a net margin of 12.76%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.85 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $1.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. Air Products and Chemicals's payout ratio is presently 104.07%.

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.

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