West Paces Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

West Paces Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,052 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 159 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $595,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of APD. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,028 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $588,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its position in Air Products and Chemicals by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 3,074 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 974 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Air Products and Chemicals

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, VP Sean D. Major sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.46, for a total value of $1,419,570.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,273 shares in the company, valued at $4,502,560.58. This represents a 23.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of the business’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 owns 3,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,173,204. This represents a 34.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,842,604. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

Shares of NYSE APD opened at $272.80 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $284.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $304.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $60.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.89. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $235.14 and a 1-year high of $341.14.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.14). Air Products and Chemicals had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 15.78%. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on APD shares. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Air Products and Chemicals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas raised shares of Air Products and Chemicals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com lowered Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $370.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.94.

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.