BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Lowers Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp cut its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 2.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 193,993 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,487 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp owned approximately 0.09% of Air Products and Chemicals worth $57,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of APD. Forsta AP Fonden grew its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 45,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,607,000 after acquiring an additional 5,400 shares during the period. Jensen Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 65.0% during the third quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,921,000 after purchasing an additional 5,190 shares in the last quarter. Woodstock Corp increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 38,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,605,000 after buying an additional 2,387 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 3.9% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 44,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the third quarter valued at $3,234,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on APD. Evercore ISI raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $305.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. Vertical Research upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $336.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $291.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $331.53.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

NYSE APD opened at $334.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $74.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.81. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.24 and a 1 year high of $336.42. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $315.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $285.61.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.21%.

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.