Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 963 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 32.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $1,014,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of APD. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake 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 worth $1,894,973,000 after buying an additional 4,330,471 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter worth $852,288,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 2,931.0% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,796,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $444,352,000 after buying an additional 1,737,260 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 50.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC bought a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the first quarter worth $87,173,000. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on APD shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.40.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE APD opened at $284.20 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $271.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $257.66. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.24 and a 1 year high of $307.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.16. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 16.53%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.