Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Holdings Raised by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 20,970 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 587 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $6,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APD. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,874,347 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,448,570,000 after buying an additional 88,806 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 29,954.1% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,894,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $861,722,000 after acquiring an additional 2,884,581 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,043,099 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,312,000 after purchasing an additional 33,313 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,867,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $555,967,000 after purchasing an additional 70,759 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,633,381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $486,343,000 after purchasing an additional 19,209 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on APD shares. Barclays raised Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $315.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $330.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $323.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $350.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $340.50.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

NYSE:APD opened at $333.45 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $310.40 and a 200-day moving average of $300.43. The firm has a market cap of $74.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.24 and a twelve month high of $341.14.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.79 per share. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. This is a boost from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.21%.

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.