Skylands Capital LLC Sells 7,225 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Skylands Capital LLC reduced its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 85.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,225 shares during the quarter. Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in APD. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 62.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,230,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,720,704,000 after purchasing an additional 4,309,040 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $852,288,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 0.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,034,818 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $525,085,000 after buying an additional 5,140 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 50.6% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,547,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,841,000 after buying an additional 520,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,508,625 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $413,078,000 after buying an additional 168,959 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on APD shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $276.00 to $281.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $275.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.40.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

NYSE:APD traded down $0.85 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $277.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,594,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,671,163. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $212.24 and a fifty-two week high of $307.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $267.08 and its 200-day moving average is $253.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm has a market cap of $61.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.81.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 16.53%. Equities analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. 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 2.55%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is 63.90%.

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.