Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. $APD Position Boosted by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 5,835.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 157,826 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 155,167 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $42,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of APD. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Air Products and Chemicals during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Main Street Group LTD bought a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Air Products and Chemicals by 318.2% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 92 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayban purchased a new stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 81.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals stock traded up $3.96 on Monday, reaching $281.54. The company had a trading volume of 232,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,287,494. The firm has a market cap of $62.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,280.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $295.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.35. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $229.11 and a 1 year high of $314.87.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $3.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.13. Air Products and Chemicals had a negative net margin of 0.38% and a positive return on equity of 16.87%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.09 earnings per share. Air Products and Chemicals’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Air Products and Chemicals has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.390-13.490 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.550-3.650 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 13.46 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 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $7.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Air Products and Chemicals’s payout ratio is currently -3,290.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a report on Friday, July 10th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Air Products and Chemicals from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $373.00 price target on shares of Air Products and Chemicals in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $334.69.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc is a global industrial gases and related equipment company headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company supplies atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon, as well as process and specialty gases including hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide and syngas.

Air Products serves customers in a range of industries, including refining, chemicals, metals, electronics, manufacturing, food and beverage, healthcare and energy. Its offerings include gases delivered through pipelines, bulk and packaged distribution, and on-site production systems, along with gas-processing equipment and technologies used in applications such as hydrogen production, natural gas liquefaction and carbon capture.

Founded in 1940, Air Products operates across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and other international markets.