Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Sold by West Michigan Advisors LLC

West Michigan Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 32.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,651 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,687 shares during the quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $1,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 151.3% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 24,881 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,028,000 after acquiring an additional 14,981 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.6% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 67,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,355,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321 shares during the period. Woodstock Corp raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 6.5% in the third quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 38,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,605,000 after buying an additional 2,387 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the first quarter worth about $2,625,000. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 33.8% during the third quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 51,110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $15,217,000 after buying an additional 12,925 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on APD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $310.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Vertical Research raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $336.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.12.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Down 1.4 %

APD stock opened at $322.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.24 and a 12 month high of $332.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.58 billion, a PE ratio of 29.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $292.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $270.59.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.16. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 21.24%. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. Equities analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.