Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of APD. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,309,040 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,737,260 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,792,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $720,597,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564,169 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 50.6% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,547,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,841,000 after purchasing an additional 520,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the first quarter worth $87,173,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $310.36 on Wednesday. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.24 and a 1 year high of $313.00. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $281.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.79. The company has a market capitalization of $68.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.82.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 21.24%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. 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 2.28%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $364.00 in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $305.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $309.18.

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.