Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) Given New $325.00 Price Target at Barclays

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) had its target price decreased by Barclays from $355.00 to $325.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on APD. Bank of America downgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $282.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 price target (down from $345.00) on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $373.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $330.38.

Air Products and Chemicals Stock Performance

Shares of APD stock opened at $277.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Air Products and Chemicals has a 12-month low of $243.69 and a 12-month high of $341.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $283.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $303.77. The company has a market capitalization of $61.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Melissa N. Schaeffer sold 3,233 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.32, for a total transaction of $993,565.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,282,177.60. This represents a 23.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Francesco Maione sold 2,016 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $1,173,204. This trade represents a 34.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last 90 days. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 85.1% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,514 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,939,000 after purchasing an additional 2,995 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 770,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $229,418,000 after buying an additional 14,067 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,138,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Air Products and Chemicals by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 3,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $903,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

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.