Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Sold by Brown Advisory Inc.

Brown Advisory Inc. lowered its position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD - Free Report) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,885 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,647 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.'s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $9,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 1,540 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 3,597 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 1,022 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 421 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,499 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on APD. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $365.00 to $320.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays lowered 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 report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $355.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $282.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $328.00 to $344.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.12.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

NYSE APD traded down $1.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $292.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,042,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,361,929. The firm's 50 day moving average is $278.81 and its 200 day moving average is $290.19. 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 0.85, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.46, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.85.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.14). Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 12.76% and a return on equity of 15.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.85 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be paid a $1.79 dividend. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. Air Products and Chemicals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.07%.

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.