West Oak Capital LLC Purchases 265 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

West Oak Capital LLC increased its position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,981 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $2,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.8% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,079 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,684,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 6.2% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Applied Capital LLC FL lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 76.7% during the first quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 3,927 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,704 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2,250.0% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 141 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 14.0% during the first quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 3,267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 1.4 %

APD stock traded up $3.58 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $250.92. The stock had a trading volume of 2,832,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,785,854. The firm has a market cap of $55.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.81. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.24 and a twelve month high of $307.71. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $259.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $251.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.56% and a net margin of 20.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is currently 63.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on APD shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $275.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $287.29.

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.