Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Short Interest Down 19.2% in October

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,540,000 shares, a decline of 19.2% from the October 15th total of 4,380,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CX Institutional boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 11,593 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,452,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 1,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 3,740 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $906,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 22.3% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Vertical Research raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $336.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $307.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Air Products and Chemicals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $305.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $329.76.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE APD traded up $1.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $317.10. 1,113,047 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,434,932. The company has a 50 day moving average of $305.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $279.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Air Products and Chemicals has a 52-week low of $212.24 and a 52-week high of $332.42. The firm has a market cap of $70.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.81.

Air Products and Chemicals Company 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.