Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Grows Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,874,347 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,448,570,000 after buying an additional 88,806 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,062,859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $790,371,000 after acquiring an additional 122,676 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 29,954.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,894,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $861,722,000 after acquiring an additional 2,884,581 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,043,099 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,312,000 after acquiring an additional 33,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,936,582 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $499,735,000 after acquiring an additional 389,380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on APD. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $308.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Redburn Atlantic raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $330.00 to $350.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.71.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 1.6 %

APD stock opened at $317.11 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $309.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.10. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.24 and a twelve month high of $337.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $70.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.84.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.21%.

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.