Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Has $595,000 Stock Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 4.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 114 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tompkins Financial Corp increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 28.7% in the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 2,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Marion Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Marion Wealth Management now owns 4,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,129,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the 1st quarter worth $318,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,522 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 46.3% during the 1st quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,252,000 after purchasing an additional 9,478 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $276.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $295.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $287.29.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $272.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $255.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $251.86. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $212.24 and a twelve month high of $307.71. The firm has a market cap of $60.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.84.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.70 by $0.15. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 20.32% and a return on equity of 16.56%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.90%.

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.