16,657 Shares in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) Bought by Cullen Investment Group LTD.

Cullen Investment Group LTD. bought a new position in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 16,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,561,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APD. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 113.5% in the 4th quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 2,957 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $810,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572 shares during the last quarter. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 37.6% in the 4th quarter. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 388,474 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $106,364,000 after acquiring an additional 106,054 shares during the last quarter. River Street Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 3,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $868,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,084 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,317,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Romano Brothers AND Company grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 673.0% in the 4th quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 6,269 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,716,000 after acquiring an additional 5,458 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $279.00 target price on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $260.00 to $245.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $285.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Bank of America raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $264.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $276.36.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock traded up $1.37 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $232.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 103,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,728,260. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $234.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $258.96. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a one year low of $212.24 and a one year high of $307.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market cap of $51.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.81.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.84% and a net margin of 18.82%. Air Products and Chemicals’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.38 EPS for the current year.

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. This is a boost from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is 67.56%.

Air Products and Chemicals Company 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.