Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 5,081 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. reduced its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,887 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,081 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $16,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the 4th quarter worth about $962,356,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 111,211.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,640,729 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $505,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,639,255 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,414,008 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,668,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,729 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 222.0% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 879,406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $263,407,000 after purchasing an additional 606,280 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1,696.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 518,197 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $142,344,000 after purchasing an additional 489,350 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on APD. Citigroup raised their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $260.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Air Products and Chemicals from $304.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. Barclays cut their price target 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. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $279.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Air Products and Chemicals presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $276.36.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:APD opened at $229.01 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $235.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $257.98. 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 capitalization of $50.91 billion, a PE ratio of 21.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Air Products and Chemicals Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 13th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. This is an increase from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is presently 67.56%.

About Air Products and Chemicals

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.