Quadrature Capital Ltd Purchases New Stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 25,789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,250,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APD. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,503 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 35.8% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 18,955 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,190,000 after purchasing an additional 4,992 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. IFG Advisory LLC boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 8,240 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,256,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on APD. StockNews.com lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $257.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $294.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.29.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

APD traded up $2.34 on Friday, reaching $260.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,042,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,659,557. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $265.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $249.83. The company has a market cap of $58.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.49. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.24 and a 52-week high of $307.71.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 20.32% and a return on equity of 16.56%. The business’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.90%.

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.