Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 57,183 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Janus Henderson Group PLC cut its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD - Free Report) by 50.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,328 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 57,183 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC's holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $16,050,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in APD. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the 4th quarter worth $715,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 106.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,494 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,914,000 after purchasing an additional 6,952 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter worth about $7,269,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 88.2% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,490 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,074,000 after buying an additional 4,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 4,804 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,393,000 after buying an additional 1,473 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company's stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of APD stock traded down $1.51 during trading on Monday, reaching $277.42. The company had a trading volume of 732,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,459,312. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $275.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $299.95. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a one year low of $243.69 and a one year high of $341.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $61.74 billion, a PE ratio of 16.11, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.88.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 15.78% and a net margin of 31.88%. Air Products and Chemicals's quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on APD. Citigroup decreased their target price 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. Bank of America cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $282.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $375.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets cut Air Products and Chemicals from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $330.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, VP Walter L. Nelson sold 589 shares of Air Products and Chemicals 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 sale, the vice president now owns 719 shares in the company, valued at $221,811.50. The trade was a 45.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Victoria Brifo sold 2,362 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.82, for a total transaction of $745,966.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,172,411.90. This trade represents a 19.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,751 shares of company stock valued at $1,812,572 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

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.