Leavell Investment Management Inc. Has $1.39 Million Stock Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,780 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $1,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,874,347 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,448,570,000 after buying an additional 88,806 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 29,954.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,894,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $861,722,000 after acquiring an additional 2,884,581 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,043,099 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,312,000 after purchasing an additional 33,313 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,867,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $555,967,000 after purchasing an additional 70,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,633,381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $486,343,000 after purchasing an additional 19,209 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on APD. Bank of America lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $315.00 to $365.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $375.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $339.94.

Insider Transactions at Air Products and Chemicals

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, CFO Melissa N. Schaeffer sold 3,233 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 10,680 shares in the company, valued at $3,282,177.60. This trade represents a 23.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.46, for a total transaction of $1,419,570.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,502,560.58. This trade represents a 23.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,749 shares of company stock valued at $3,030,032. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $310.35 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $308.90 and a 200-day moving average of $302.60. The company has a market cap of $69.02 billion, a PE ratio of 18.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $216.30 and a 1-year high of $341.14.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its 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 return on equity of 15.78% and a net margin of 31.88%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.79 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is presently 41.11%.

Air Products and Chemicals 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.