Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Position Boosted by Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC

Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the period. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $4,408,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of APD. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.1% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 71,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,200,000 after acquiring an additional 2,131 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 34.5% in the third quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 2,872 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $855,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 5.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 25,967 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,731,000 after acquiring an additional 1,398 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Point Inc. acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the third quarter valued at approximately $249,000. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on APD. Barclays upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $315.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $330.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $375.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $339.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Melissa N. Schaeffer sold 3,233 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.32, for a total transaction of $993,565.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,680 shares in the company, valued at $3,282,177.60. The trade was a 23.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.46, for a total transaction of $1,419,570.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,502,560.58. This represents a 23.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,749 shares of company stock worth $3,030,032. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

NYSE APD opened at $316.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.85. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $220.26 and a 1 year high of $341.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $308.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $303.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.13 by ($0.27). Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 15.78%. On average, research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $1.79 per share. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. This is a boost from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is presently 41.11%.

About Air Products and Chemicals

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.