Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Grows Position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 22.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,052 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of APD. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 69.4% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 105 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Newton One Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $350.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $375.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $339.94.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

NYSE:APD opened at $316.55 on Friday. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $227.53 and a twelve month high of $341.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a 50-day moving average of $310.00 and a 200-day moving average of $305.74. The firm has a market cap of $70.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.85.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 earnings per share 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%. Analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.79 per share. This is a boost from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Wilbur Mok sold 1,300 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.88, for a total value of $410,644.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,008,604.84. This trade represents a 28.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.46, for a total transaction of $1,419,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,273 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,502,560.58. This represents a 23.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,911 shares of company stock worth $4,660,897. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.