Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) is A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc.’s 5th Largest Position

A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,957 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 515 shares during the period. Air Products and Chemicals makes up approximately 3.1% of A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $3,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 62.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,230,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,720,704,000 after purchasing an additional 4,309,040 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,062,859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $790,371,000 after purchasing an additional 122,676 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 127.3% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,034,818 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $525,085,000 after purchasing an additional 5,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,936,582 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $499,735,000 after buying an additional 389,380 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 1.0 %

APD stock traded up $3.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $317.02. 1,192,984 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,628,800. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $212.24 and a 52-week high of $323.86. The company has a market cap of $70.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $283.53 and its 200-day moving average is $264.65.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 16.53%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Vertical Research raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $336.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $276.00 to $281.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $313.53.

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.