Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Shares Acquired by Valley National Advisers Inc.

Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 8.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,764 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $2,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2.6% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.3% during the third quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 11,593 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,452,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Stockton grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% during the third quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 1,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% during the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 3,740 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $906,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 22.3% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on APD. StockNews.com raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $323.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $330.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $336.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.12.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of APD opened at $318.02 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $294.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.82. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $212.24 and a 1-year high of $332.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 21.24%. Analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Company 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.