Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Sells 71,062 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lessened its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 40.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 104,750 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 71,062 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $27,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 10,265 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,649,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $819,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 466.6% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 12,068 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,114,000 after buying an additional 9,938 shares during the period. Mathes Company Inc. increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mathes Company Inc. now owns 10,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,589,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 69.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 784,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $203,513,000 after buying an additional 320,651 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of APD stock opened at $287.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $63.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $273.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $259.19. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $212.24 and a 52 week high of $301.03.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 16.53%. On average, analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $276.00 to $281.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $310.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased 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, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.40.

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.