Prosperity Consulting Group LLC Trims Stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,401 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 473 shares during the quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $2,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chelsea Counsel Co. raised its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.5% in the third quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 3,377 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,005,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the third quarter valued at $1,654,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 35.5% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,930 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $872,000 after buying an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1,205.1% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,440,000 after acquiring an additional 35,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 286.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,299 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,342,000 after buying an additional 15,791 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on APD. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $282.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $373.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.18.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:APD opened at $267.44 on Friday. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $228.81 and a 12-month high of $341.14. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $287.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $305.34. The company has a market capitalization of $59.50 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, CFO Melissa N. Schaeffer sold 3,233 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.32, for a total value of $993,565.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,282,177.60. This represents a 23.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $616,896.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,173,204. This trade represents a 34.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,842,604. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.