New York State Common Retirement Fund Lowers Position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 306,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 22,731 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $83,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1,696.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 518,197 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $142,344,000 after acquiring an additional 489,350 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 64.2% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 766,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $217,106,000 after acquiring an additional 299,649 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 26,852.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 275,720 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $754,920,000 after purchasing an additional 274,697 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 4.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,302,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,502,717,000 after buying an additional 235,037 shares during the period. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 9,070.2% in the third quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 185,238 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,496,000 after buying an additional 183,218 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $305.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Air Products and Chemicals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. TheStreet cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $307.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $276.36.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE APD traded down $0.33 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $234.03. 387,698 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,726,823. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $236.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $256.79. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.24 and a 1 year high of $307.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market cap of $52.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.81.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.00 by ($0.18). Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 18.82% and a return on equity of 16.84%. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is currently 67.56%.

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.