Crewe Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 167.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,921,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,894,973,000 after buying an additional 4,330,471 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter worth $852,288,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,099,419 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $508,626,000 after acquiring an additional 167,800 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,029,678 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $491,730,000 after purchasing an additional 64,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 50.6% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,547,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,841,000 after purchasing an additional 520,179 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on APD. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $275.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. StockNews.com lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.29.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

Shares of APD stock traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $259.91. 173,718 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,754,829. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.49. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $265.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.04. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.24 and a twelve month high of $307.71. The firm has a market cap of $57.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.81.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 20.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is 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.