Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Decreases Stock Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. reduced its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,331 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 96 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $3,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in APD. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $142,344,000 after purchasing an additional 489,350 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 64.2% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 766,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $217,106,000 after purchasing an additional 299,649 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $754,920,000 after purchasing an additional 274,697 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 4.6% in 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 purchasing 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 valued at $52,496,000 after purchasing an additional 183,218 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $304.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Argus lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. UBS Group lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $328.00 to $241.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $279.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $276.36.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of APD opened at $234.37 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.24 and a 12 month high of $307.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $236.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $256.79. The firm has a market cap of $52.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.81.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.00 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 18.82% and a return on equity of 16.84%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.64 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.38 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 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. This is an increase from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.56%.

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.