First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA Invests $285,000 in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA acquired a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 958 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APD. Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 45,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,607,000 after buying an additional 5,400 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 65.0% during the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,921,000 after acquiring an additional 5,190 shares during the last quarter. Woodstock Corp raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 38,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,605,000 after acquiring an additional 2,387 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,234,000. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 33.8% during the 3rd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 51,110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $15,217,000 after purchasing an additional 12,925 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $330.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $305.00 to $365.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. StockNews.com raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $308.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.53.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

Shares of APD opened at $333.20 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $313.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $284.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.81. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.24 and a twelve month high of $336.42.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.21%.

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.