Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Receives $343.53 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $343.53.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $320.00 price target (down from $345.00) on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $375.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $315.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Air Products and Chemicals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 4.0 %

NYSE APD opened at $303.83 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Air Products and Chemicals has a twelve month low of $227.53 and a twelve month high of $341.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $311.93 and its 200 day moving average is $307.64.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.13 by ($0.27). Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 15.78%. Research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $1.79 dividend. This is an increase from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Air Products and Chemicals

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, insider Kurt Lefevere sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.17, for a total value of $474,255.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,240.54. This represents a 50.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.46, for a total value of $1,419,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,502,560.58. This represents a 23.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,842,604. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,485,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,231,560,000 after buying an additional 207,404 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 6,663,154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,932,581,000 after buying an additional 64,960 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 129.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,429,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,574,670,000 after buying an additional 3,062,157 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,931,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,430,354,000 after buying an additional 57,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mantle Ridge LP purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter worth about $1,191,344,000. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

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.