Brighton Jones LLC Purchases 202 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $819,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of APD. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 62.3% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,230,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,720,704,000 after purchasing an additional 4,309,040 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,792,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $720,597,000 after buying an additional 1,564,169 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,034,818 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $525,085,000 after buying an additional 5,140 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2,931.0% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,796,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $444,352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,737,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 50.6% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,547,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,841,000 after acquiring an additional 520,179 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on 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. UBS Group raised 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. Citigroup boosted their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $323.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Air Products and Chemicals has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.40.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

APD opened at $287.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $64.02 billion, a PE ratio of 25.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $274.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $259.53. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.24 and a 1 year high of $296.00.

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

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given 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 payout ratio is 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.