Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Increases Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,282 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp owned about 0.06% of Air Products and Chemicals worth $36,917,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in APD. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 717,110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $207,991,000 after acquiring an additional 8,908 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 4th quarter valued at about $513,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,636,000. First Western Trust Bank boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. First Western Trust Bank now owns 6,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,957,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DF Dent & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Air Products and Chemicals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $419,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on APD shares. StockNews.com cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BNP Paribas raised Air Products and Chemicals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $395.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $340.88.

Insider Activity

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, CFO Melissa N. Schaeffer sold 3,233 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.32, for a total value of $993,565.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,282,177.60. The trade was a 23.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $616,896.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $1,173,204. The trade was a 34.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,842,604 in the last quarter. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 7.0 %

Air Products and Chemicals stock opened at $263.35 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $308.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $309.24. The company has a market capitalization of $58.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.88. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $227.53 and a 52 week high of $341.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.13 by ($0.27). Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 15.78%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 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 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $7.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. This is a positive change from Air Products and Chemicals’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. Air Products and Chemicals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.58%.

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.