WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. $APD

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 12.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,349 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,627 shares during the quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $9,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 31.5% in the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 8,759,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,583,417,000 after buying an additional 2,096,568 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 159.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,725,762 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $508,962,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059,970 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 110.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,441,752 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $425,202,000 after acquiring an additional 756,780 shares during the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 251.4% in the first quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 311,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $91,917,000 after acquiring an additional 222,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Air Products and Chemicals in the first quarter worth approximately $42,661,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on APD. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $325.00 to $308.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Air Products and Chemicals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Air Products and Chemicals from $354.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $330.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Air Products and Chemicals news, VP Victoria Brifo sold 1,359 shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.38, for a total transaction of $397,344.42. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 8,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,539,612.68. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Air Products and Chemicals Price Performance

APD stock opened at $257.44 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $57.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.04, a PEG ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.83. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.69 and a fifty-two week high of $341.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $283.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $280.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 12.86%.The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.20 earnings per share. Air Products and Chemicals has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.900-12.100 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 3.270-3.470 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Air Products and Chemicals Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $1.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $7.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is 103.02%.

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.