Academy Capital Management Takes $250,000 Position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Academy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 862 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 69.4% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 105 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on APD shares. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays raised Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $315.00 to $365.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $350.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $343.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, insider Wilbur Mok sold 1,300 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.88, for a total value of $410,644.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,008,604.84. The trade was a 28.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $616,896.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,173,204. This represents a 34.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,911 shares of company stock valued at $4,660,897. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

Shares of APD opened at $305.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $67.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.85. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $227.53 and a 1 year high of $341.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $310.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $306.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.13 by ($0.27). Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 15.78% and a net margin of 31.88%. On average, equities analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $1.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. This is a boost from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.58%.

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.