Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Purchases 442 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD – Free Report) by 1.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 28,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 442 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $8,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of APD. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 974 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 1,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 3,597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 1,022 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Thursday, May 29th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $290.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $282.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group cut their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $335.00 to $324.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $355.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.94.

View Our Latest Report on Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of APD opened at $285.40 on Wednesday. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.69 and a 1-year high of $341.14. The company has a market capitalization of $63.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.48, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $275.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $290.53.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.14). Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 12.76% and a return on equity of 15.48%. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.85 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.79 per share. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.07%.

Air Products and Chemicals Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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