WBH Advisory Inc. Sells 33 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

WBH Advisory Inc. lowered its position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,873 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 33 shares during the quarter. WBH Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 884 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 8,631 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,503,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,408,000 after buying an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Copperleaf Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Copperleaf Capital LLC now owns 3,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on APD shares. BNP Paribas raised Air Products and Chemicals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut Air Products and Chemicals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Redburn Atlantic raised Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $330.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $315.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $339.94.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:APD opened at $316.74 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $308.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $303.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.85. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $220.26 and a 12-month high of $341.14.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.13 by ($0.27). Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 15.78%. Equities research analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $1.79 dividend. This is an increase from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Air Products and Chemicals

In related news, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.46, for a total value of $1,419,570.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,502,560.58. The trade was a 23.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $616,896.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,173,204. This represents a 34.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,749 shares of company stock valued at $3,030,032 in the last 90 days. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.